Red Heart
by papafrap
Summary: Nurse Redheart has the worst day ever, but finds comfort in telling Berry Punch about her horrifying past. Berry Punch also reveals that the reason for her excessive drinking. Rated M for extremely dark content.
1. Red Hearts

Today has been one of the worst days ever since I started working at Ponyville Hospital.

It began last night when my neighbor, Berry Punch, decided to throw an all-night party. Of course, she was the only pony there because nopony in the right mind would want to party with her drunk all the time.

"Hey, Berry, you want to like, **shut it**?" I yelled.

Like always, I could tell when she had a bit too many bottles: "Ah' is that you there Redheart?"

Oh goodness, when that mare drinks, she gets **really** drunk. I was up all night like an insomniac, forced to listen to the loud music blaring right through the paper thin apartment walls.

"C'mon Redheart! Party with Berrrrrrrrry!." She then proceeded to giggle at herself for the next hour.  
>Every once in a while I would hear her crash into the walls, floor, or oddly enough, the ceiling. All I could think about was when this pony would just stop. Why am I cursed with this failure of a pony living next to me?<p>

Why?

I tossed and turned all night. Whenever I began to doze off, the next song would start and wake me right up. I did, eventually, manage to fall asleep. Well, at 3:00 in the morning. Four hours of sleep later, I woke up on the floor and realized that I was extremely late for work. I didn't have to time to do my mane or even eat a bowl of hay.

I ran outside as quick as possible and ran into Fluttershy, literally. She was pulling a cart of squirrels, for whatever reason only Celestia would know, through the middle of the road. Fluttershy toppled over like a helpless filly, but was fine otherwise. The little animals ran away, startled.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she apologized, "It's my fault… I'm sorry, please don't be mad."  
>Ugh, as bad as this day was, nopony could be mad at Fluttershy. I helped her look for the critters all over Ponyville.<p>

"You have to sing to the little critters," said Fluttershy.  
>I was not going to sing. No way at all would I sing. I tried to round up every one of the animals as fast as I could, but failed to catch even one. All of the animals hid under Fluttershy for safety. Eventually they calmed down and hopped with Fluttershy to the park. Because of this incident, I missed the morning carriage to work. Oh Celestia, by this time I was praying that nothing else would happen.<p>

I galloped to work, checked in, and was scolded by the head Doctor for my apparent 'laziness' and 'inability to take my job seriously'. I was assigned to the Nursery department for my morning shift, and I can't express into words how much I hate that job. Imagine this, tens of baby colts and fillies screaming at the top of their tiny bodies whining, screaming, and crying.

"Why aren't you doing your job?" all the other doctors said, while lying down and watching me.

Being an earth pony, I can't chase after the pegasi whizzing through the air or control the unicorn's magic. Better yet, add on the fact that I have to be constantly changing their diapers and cleaning up after their… waste. Also, if I accidentally make one small mistake I would be suspended without pay for neglecting the '_sensitive needs of these little ponies_'. Then all the ponies in Ponyville start to talk about how cruel you are to these _innocent little angels_. It just makes me want to vomit.  
>After this I decided to take a lunch break, until I remembered that all my bits were sitting on my bedside table. Great! No breakfast or lunch. At least I have time on break to take a nap. I was wrong again.<p>

Somepony just decided to have a baby **now**. I rushed down the stairs to the delivery ward. It was the Cake's first child. That Mr. Cake, as handsome as he is, kept bugging me with the same questions:

"Is she going to be okay?", "Yes";

"Is this normal?", "Yes";

"Is the baby coming?", "Yes".

Seriously, I was not in the mood for such annoyances. On the other hand, Mrs. Cake was yelling, "Oh it hurts!" What is it with Ponyville ponies and their yelling? Why, when I was a little filly nopony put up with this behavior. You stood in line and did as told, it's easy as that.  
>It only got worse after the delivery. I placed the little foals in the care ward where they could rest. The Cake's adopted daughter, Pinkie Pie, decided to have a party and sing loudly to all the sleeping foals.<br>I prayed that the foals wouldn't wake up. Please, please, please.

"Shh, the babies are trying to sleep!"  
>After shushing her twice she began to sing a birthday song. That's it. I grabbed and tossed her out. Ponies that don't follow the rules aren't allowed in my hospital. As Pinkie was leaving, she slammed the door behind her, scaring all the foals.<p>

I spent my time in the afternoon trying to stop the crying and screaming and yelling. Oh, Celestia, please make this stop. The unicorn foals' magic created chaos in the room. The nurses just watched, laughing at my humiliation as I desperately tried to keep calm. After what seemed like an eternity the foals were quiet and sleeping without a care in the world.  
>The head Doctor came into the room. "Good job everypony!" He applauded the nurses for doing such a great job that he let them take a break for the rest of the day. As for me, he just asked me why I wasn't doing my job at the Nursery. I begrudgingly walked back into the Nursery, listening to the giggles of the nurses.<p>

I looked at the clock, Eleven. End of my shift. I took a carriage home, thanks to the nice driver who didn't charge the hospital staff. At least one good thing happened today. I arrived at home and saw that my door was ajar. Seriously? I moved to Ponyville because it's the 'safest place in Equestria'. Whatpony breaks into homes in Ponyville?

I rushed inside and found Berry Punch going through my cabinets.  
>"OH HEY, REDHEART," she said, drunk, "WHERE WERE YOU ALL DAY?"<p>

I snapped at her, "Working, someponies aren't spoiled brats that get everything they want from their rich parents."

"OH, IS THAT HOW IT WORKS? I WAS JUST LOOKING FOR SOME…," Berry found an old bottle of wine in the pantry. "AH, HERE!"

At this point, I didn't care about anything; I was too hungry to get angry. I took the bottle from Berry and took a swig from it.  
>Berry looked offended, "HEY, THAT'S MINE!" She took the bottle and drained it in one gulp.<p>

I rolled my eyes, as if she were conscious enough to recognize sarcasm. I pulled out another bottle, opened the top downed it.  
>Berry looked sad, "HEY! Share some of that!" She reached out to me like a helpless foal and knocked me down onto the floor.<p>

"Get off me, Berry!" I said angrily. I tried to roll her over, but she wouldn't move.

"But I'm still hungry!"

I took out my last bottle of berry wine. "Alright, but this is my last one."  
>We sat on the floor taking turns sipping from the one bottle.<p>

"You know, Berry, you shouldn't break into houses, it's what some ponies would call illegal."

"Oh. I'm sorry, I thought that was okay!"

I hit my head with my hoof. "What in Equestria would make it seem alright for you to just waltz into my home and take my food?"

Berry kept rambling, "You know, we're best friends!"

"No, I am not your friend, I hate you. You always keep me up at night with your partying, you come into my house and take my things, you're an embarrassment to ponykind with your drinking, and nopony likes you!"  
>I didn't know if it was this terrible day or the wine that was speaking, but I knew that I didn't mean the things I said. Berry looked at me, for once seemingly not drunk. Her eyes were in tears.<br>I tried to apologize, "Berry, I didn't mean…"

She cried in my lap. "I'm sorry Redheart. I just thought that you would understand me."

I looked down, ashamed of what I had said.

"If you really hate me, why didn't you move away?"

I couldn't answer that question because I myself didn't know why. I mean, she has been the most inconsiderate pony I have ever met in my whole life, but for some reason I couldn't bring myself to even remotely hate her.

"Berry," I brought her closer to me, "I don't hate you."

She looked up at me and stopped crying.

"For whatever crazy reason, I can't hate you."

We both sat there on the floor, taking sips, more slowly.

"It's just so hard to fit in with these ponies." I've never confessed these feelings to anypony before. "Life is just so different from where I came from."

Berry grabbed my mane and held me close to her. This was the first time anypony had embraced me like this. For once, I felt as if somepony cared for me, the outcast.

"Tell me. Tell me everything."


	2. Bleeding Hearts

Cannon shells exploded around me. The air was thick with the scent of blood and roasted flesh. All I could see was smoke from the craters riddling the battlefield and the injured ponies who desperately tried to drag themselves away from the front lines. Individual lives didn't matter; everypony knew that the front lines meant assured death.  
>I reached out to a young stallion, barely out of his colthood, who was desperately calling for help. His foreleg had been torn off clean by a stray cannonball. I reach out further to grasp his only foreleg remaining. Bang. Another shot landed directly into his face and out the back. Whatever remained of his head was launched twenty feet away. Blood squirted out of his neck, spraying and covering the ground which hungrily drank it up.<p>

Nopony questioned why I, a little filly, was in such a dangerous place. All they cared about surviving the day, then the next, and if they were lucky, the one after that.

"Everypony, into the shelter!" the Commander pegasus ordered.

Everypony retreated into the safety of the crudely dug bomb shelter. We all could hear the sound of cannons outside, booming like thunder. The ground shook randomly, some tremors stronger than others. The injured ponies were lying on cots in the emergency care ward.

There was only one nurse, Nurse Trueheart. She was a middle-aged mare, mane tied in a simple knot to keep it out of her eyes when working. Her blood spattered cap was embroidered with the symbol of the red cross. She was a true medic, saving the lives of everypony and leaving no pony behind. Every pony's death while under her knife would be a death to her morality.

"Stay with me!" she commanded to the injured unicorn.

The unicorn's horn was snapped in half and the left half of his ribs punctured through his skin, revealing white among the red. There was no hope for this soldier, his time has passed. The unicorn took his last breath and ceased breathing.

Nurse Trueheart banged the table in rage. "Damn it. I told you to stay with me!" She took out a fresh white blanket and covered the corpse. She carried the body over to another room, filled with bloodstained bundles of ponies and pony remains. This was life in the front line bunkers. Death followed by death with every day. Nopony really knew why they were fighting anymore. All they knew was that one day they would have to fight no longer; either with their deaths or a victory.

"Doctor!" somepony shouted from one end of the shelter.  
>"Medic!" another pony shouted.<p>

Every pony ran frantic around the base, constantly. The flickering lights that hung from the low ceilings were the only source of light, other than the sparks from the unicorns' horns.

* * *

><p>"You, filly," Nurse Trueheart handed me a scalpel, "you're going to be my assistant."<p>

This is when I first learned about medicine. Everyday more wounded soldiers would come in, and with each one I was able to hone my medical abilities.

I saw so many ponies, all bleeding and on the brink of death. Most of them did die, but for every pony I was able to save, I was reminded of the preciousness of life.

One pony had explosive fragments lodged in his chest. No vitals were seriously damaged. Procedure: extract fragments and stop internal bleeding. Survival rate: 95%.  
>I knew at once that dragons were involved in the war when a rush of ponies with 2nd class burns was carried in. Every inch of these ponies' bodies were severely burned. Even the bones had imploded due to intense heat. Procedure: amputation and skin graph. Survival rate: 30%.<br>The war proceeded to become more brutal. One pony with multiple stab wounds, most likely from bomb shrapnel, came in near dead. There was major damage to all vitals. There was nothing I could do but pray that his suffering would end. Survival rate: 0%.

This is how I earned my cutie mark, the mark of the red cross. I didn't even realize that I had my cutie mark until after the war, not that I would have celebrated it if I had known. No joy comes from war.  
>I was in those bunkers for the next month, and I gained mastery over surgical skills. I would not accept death, "I would fight him at all costs, and with these hooves I shall save everypony."<p>

The noises outside continued to boom throughout the night, nonstop. It was unbearable to listen to the moaning and crying within those bunkers. But I knew that I had to continue on, brave and strong, these ponies were counting on me.

One day the commander shouted in terror, "Code 130, incoming! Get down now!"  
>Code 130, that was the order to brace yourselves for a massive airstrike.<br>The ground shook violently and the walls started to crack. Ponies tried to run out before the whole base collapsed. Some ponies didn't even have a chance to escape; they were immediately crushed by boulders of dirt and rocks. The ones who reached the exit were met by dragons which shot white-hot napalm onto anypony who tried to escape. The ponies immediately dropped onto the ground, screaming in pain. The napalm was like tar which stuck and burned every inch of their bodies and slowly killed them from the outside in.

I watched as a pony, missing both hindlegs, use his only good foreleg to drag himself outside. He died immediately when a pile of burning bodies fell on top of him.

Then enemy ponies armed with iron studded hooves rushed into the base. The remaining ponies on our side lay down with hooves up in surrender. The enemies forced us out into the battlefield where our executions were watched by our comrades. They would take one pony at a time into the largest crater and put on a 'show' for us which we were forced to watch.

The enemies were ruthless, torturing then killing the helpless. We all knew it was over. Nopony would come to help us. I witnessed a pony, a unicorn, hung from his horn while two ponies used clubs with rusted nails embedded in it to beat him to death. First, blood splashed everywhere like jelly. Then, the chunks of flesh littered the ground below him. As the flesh ripped away, the fragments of organs began spilling out. The unicorn looked on in horror as he saw his entrails being torn out, his red blood painting the dirt below him. They left him hanging, dangling in the wind as the last of his fluids dripped out.

The enemies were pleased with what they had done and brought up another one of our men. He was a fine blue pegasus, with a brightly colored mane. I recognized him as the second-in-command of our division. His flight skills were unmatched by anypony in Equestria. He would always talk about this family, back in some town in the sky untouched by war. He was a loudmouth, sure, but in a good way. He always bragged about his rainbow maned wife which he carried a picture of in the locket always kept close to his heart. His name was Sky Dash. He was a rebel, like his father, and refused to show any weakness to the enemy. As a result, his punishment was made gruesome, twofold. They tore his wings off with their bare hooves. Crack. Crack. Crack. We could see the bones as the wings ripped clean off. I tried to turn away, but my head was forced back.

Even still, Sky Dash refused to show pain. Angrily, the enemy poured a keg of explosive powder down his throat, suffocating him.

"One more chance. Scream for me and I'll let you die faster," one of them said to Sky Dash.

His friends pleaded to Dash to give up. Nopony could watch their dear friend suffer anymore.

Then they poured napalm over his body. We could see that even still his will to live was unshattered. He did not scream. He dropped to the ground and began to crawl. After a moment his body exploded as the napalm and powder came in contact. He died instantaneously. I remember his last words, which haunt me to this day, "My Little Dashie".

My eyes grew large in fear as I saw the next prisoner, for it was Nurse Trueheart. Those savages pinned her down and laughed at her futile attempts to fight them off.  
>"Get off, you brutes!" she yelled.<br>Then I felt myself being lifted by my mane.  
>"Hey, look what I found here! A little filly!" my carrier brought me to the crater, now knee deep in blood.<p>

The one on top of Nurse Trueheart laughed. "If you keep resisting, you know what's going to happen to this pretty filly." He pointed to me.  
>She stopped protesting and only watched in fear as the stallion mounted her marehood. I was forced to watch, and was unable to make any sound. Nurse Trueheart, the pony who lived only to serve and save everypony she loved was being forced into submission. Her blood was added to the pool as the stallion continued to violently abuse her.<br>"AGHHHHH," she screamed, "MAKE IT STOP!"  
>"Shut up," said the stallion as he pushed her head into the pool. He grunted hard and then unmounted her.<br>Nurse Trueheart lifted herself out and began coughing blood. Two of the enemies restrained her and held her bloodied face up... at me. All the ponies were staring at me.  
>The stallion came up to me and smirked, "Your turn."<br>I tossed and turned, trying to avoid the inevitable. He took a knife to Nurse Trueheart's neck.  
>"You know what happens if you don't listen."<br>I had to. I had no choice. I couldn't lose her too. I stopped resisting.  
>"Good girl."<p>

* * *

><p>I had been rambling on to Berry about my story and hadn't noticed her mouth ajar, horrified at my tale.<br>"Oh," I forgot that other ponies would be extremely sensitive, "sorry, I think I've said too much."  
>Berry shook her head, "No. It's okay, keep talking."<br>There was a look in her eyes, not of empathy, but of guilt. But why?  
>"I mean, I think I've said too much, sorry, I don't want to..." she pulled me back down as I tried to scoot away.<br>"Redheart, when I said that I would be here to listen, I meant that."  
>I guess I had no choice.<p> 


	3. Broken Hearts

They did things to me; things so horrible and revolting that it scared me both physically and mentally forever. I closed my eyes, trying to escape the truth, but what I imagined was by far worse than reality. I could smell the stink of the sick stench of the thick black pool of blood that I was submerged in. I could hear my body being violated and the enemy cheering him on. Cheering and watching on as if stripping away my purity was a sporting event. Worst of all, I could feel it. The filth, the shame, the powerlessness to defend myself, I could feel all of it. They forced Nurse Trueheart to watch as these things were done to me. This was the only time I've seen her cry. She saw everypony in front of her, dying, and after devoting her life to saving everypony, in the end she couldn't save anypony at all.

I truly believed that I would die then and there. In fact, I wished for death to come and take me away from the pain and humiliation.  
>After all the stallions had taken their turns mounting me, pleasuring themselves, I was thrown violently aside. In the reflection of the blood I could see that I resembled something more of a rag, rather than a pony. They walked away from me to finish their humiliation on Nurse Trueheart.<p>

My back was to the wall as I lay slumped against the side of the crater. Catatonia came over me from both the physical fatigue and the sights I saw. My body was no more the color of snow white, but of yellow like bile. My fur was in clumps, caked in blood, spit, and other bodily fluids. I looked down and saw a bloodied flower, cut, torn, and mangled. All around me lay the scattered fragments of my comrades. None of them escaped. None of them ever had the chance.

Nurse Trueheart was tossed beside me.

"A moment for a prayer," the leader said. But, he turned and scoffed, "if Celestia was _ever_ watching."  
>I heard his laughs as he slowly walked away.<p>

She looked worse than I did. Cuts and bruises covered her body. She had resisted more than I had and paid for it dearly. She was like a mother to me, well, the only mother I had known. I still had hope. We could escape now and live a free life away from this war! I looked to her, but her eyes were lifeless, hollow.

"We will make it! We will make it!" I tried to make myself believe this lie.

The leader of the enemies gave a shout off in the distance and started to stride towards us. We could clearly in the reflecting sunlight that there was something metallic between his teeth, a knife.

A hundred feet.

Nurse Trueheart, with whatever strength she had left, grabbed my limp hoof and tried to drag me away.

Sixty feet.

We both realized why he left alone. He knew that we wouldn't be able to escape; they wanted us to have hope of survival. Then kill us.

Thirty feet.

Nurse Trueheart knew that at this rate we wouldn't be able to escape. In a final attempt to save me she threw herself on top of me.

Ten feet.

I was frightened to death. Not for my own life, but for hers. I could see between her forelegs that the malicious blood-shot eyes were right upon us. I repeated the same lines in my head: "We will make it! We will make it!" I couldn't lie to myself any longer. I cried. I couldn't stop crying. I didn't know why, I've never cried in my life before. Maybe… I've accepted my fate and now the moment I've anticipated has come. I would soon be free.

Zero.

His shadow loomed over us. The weapon in his mouth was encrusted in the blood of our dear friends.  
>"Please!" Nurse Trueheart embraced me closely, "not the filly!"<p>

He laughed. And smiled. How could he smile like that? He raised the blade and swung down. It pierced right between her shoulders and splintered her spine. He jerked the blade out with ease and swung again, this time slashing at her hindleg. Her blood splashed into my mouth. I could taste it. This was reality. She was dying. I could see that the knife had embedded itself deep into her thigh. He slowly, and brutally, sawed the knife with difficulty, back and forth, through the bone until her appendage separated from the body. Blood was everywhere, dripping in streams onto my body. I felt her grasp on me becoming tighter and tighter with every stab. He stabbed her once more, this time the blade sunk right into her heart. Blood mixed with vomit came gushing out of her mouth. I closed my eyes. I didn't want to live this nightmare anymore. I could feel her body twitch in pain as every consecutive stab pounded through her flesh. Bones would crack and shatter into bits. Now, with every blow her grip would loosen. He laughed. He laughed as he twisted the knife. Her forelegs went limp. She was dead.

I could hear his friends cheering. They were hollering to this "hero" to finish the job. He grabbed Nurse Trueheart's corpse off of me by the hair. Blood dripped down in a stream, down her mane, down her body, down to the tip of her tail. A puddle of blood accumulated quickly. He took the knife and stabbed her neck. Crack. Her spine severed from the head and the body. He lifted her head up high for me to see. Her decapitated body dropped to the ground. Pure white nerves were seen protruding from the core of the spine, like an angel's hair.

He brought the head to my face. I could her eyes, wide open with blood dripping out of them, as if she had cried tears of blood. He then dropped her head onto the bloodied mud and smashed it to bits with his hoof. Little bits of what was her head scattered in an explosion of blood and brain. Red and grey jelly splattered all over me. This was too real.

He raised the knife, this time directly over me. Everypony I had ever known was dead. Memories flashed back: the day I was orphaned, the day I was brought into my first bunker, the first time I saw Nurse Trueheart. It was at last time for me to join them. I saw the glint of the knife as it fell. Everything went black.

* * *

><p>I opened my eyes. I saw stars glittering against the night sky. Was I dead? No. I could still feel the pain and smell death's perfume.<p>

"She's awake!"

I immediately jolted up and saw that I was in a run down apartment building with a broken roof. Then I fell back down in pain.

"Hey, filly, you should rest. It's been a hard week for all of us."

I searched the room for the source of the voice and found a dark red stallion lying in the corner of the room.

"Good thing we were there right then, we were _just in time._"

No. No you weren't. She's still dead. You should have been faster. The bubbling rage inside me wanted to scream these things at them, but pain forced me to be quiet.  
>"What happened?" that's all I could mutter.<p>

"We found you in the middle of the front lines, filly. Some of those rebel ponies were going to kill you right there," he sighed. "Everypony was dead. Except you. I'm sorry."

So I really was the last one. I eyed the room and saw maps and charts scattered across the walls. "**WAR**" one newspaper read in bold capitals. A colored string connected this article and then to another. A whole spiderweb of colored strings connected the compilation of papers.

"Interested in these papers?" He saw that I had been eyeing them for a while. "Well these papers tell the story. The true story about the war."

I didn't care what the reason for this war was. I just wanted it to be over.

"You do know about the war, right?"

In actuality, I didn't know anything about the war. My earliest memory was of myself digging trenches for the air raids. I shook my head.

"I thought you'd be too young to know." His eyes were downcast. "But you ought to know. There's a reason why we're all fighting. Even a little filly like you."  
>He walked over to the web of information and traced a single black string to an article in the center of the wall. He pulled that article off the wall and held it close as he read it aloud.<p>

"It all began long before Equestria..."


	4. Frozen Hearts

_The Great Equestrian War_  
>Long before the founding of Equestria there were three tribes who lived in constant discord with one another. And it wasn't a surprise because these tribes were so diverse in cultures. The Earth Pony tribe was composed of peasants who grew the food with their mastery over the land. The swift Pagasus Ponies provided a military against non-pony hostiles and controlled the weather. The Unicorn Ponies provided magic which controlled cycles in nature. These ponies refused to share their talents, and as a result, they quickly drifted apart from each other.<p>

The isolation built up tension between these ponies and all of them suffered equally as a result. The Earth Ponies were the first to protest against the Unicorn Ponies' lavish living and attacked them, claiming that they were pampered snobs who refused to share their wealth with the poor. As a result, the Earth Ponies refused to share their crops with anypony else. Outraged at the the Earth Ponies, the Pegasus Ponies refused to protect them from wild beasts. The Earth Ponies tried to defend themselves, but without an army, they could not survive if an Ursa Major happened to wander into their little cities. The Unicorn Ponies seemed to enjoy this as they watched and laughed safely from the tops of their castle walls as the Earth Ponies perished. However, the Unicorn Ponies too began to die out once they ran out of food. Starvation and disease ran rampant within their fortress. Inside, disease would eventually kill them slowly, while outside, the other tribes would hunt the stragglers who were brave enough to try and escape. Meanwhile, the Pegasus Ponies staged a bloody coup against their monarch and the kingdom resulted in anarchy. Chaos reigned in the Pegasus Kingdom and nopony did their jobs to keep the weather under control. After years of conflict, these three tribes where forced to tolerate each other in order to survive the worst winter ever.

The fairytale we tell little foals ends with these tribes finding harmony.  
>However, it is the untold story afterwords that everypony fears today. The truth is, after the tribes escaped the grasps of the stormy winter, they quickly degraded back to hatred. The leaders met, once again, to write a charter for alliance to ensure that the incident would never occur again. All leaders signed this charter, but secretly the unicorn elites plotted an Equestrian-wide massacre. Their leader, the Unicorn King, who lead and executed this plan.<p>

It was that fateful day when all of Equestria was forever changed. The Unicorn King and his secret army lead the bloodiest purge, wiping out millions of Earth and Pegasus Ponies in a single day. Stallions, mares, foals. All of them were herded and massacred.

The King read his speech in the Royal Canterlot voice, booming and powerful.  
>"We are the superior race. We shall rid this world of the inferior races! Together, Equestria will be ruled by the pureblooded!"<br>He raised his hoof into the air and the Unicorns chanted, "Hail the King!"

The leader of the Earth Ponies and Pegasus Ponies would not watch as their tribe was being wiped out. They formed a strong alliance against the Unicorn Ponies, and together they fought side-by-side.

Eventually, the war ended, and the Unicorn King was forced to surrender. His lingering disciples scattered, forming cults and awaited to fulfill the prophecy of their King. The descendants of these disciples created a secret underground society which prepared for war.

The war started when I was just a colt, twenty years ago. At the time, I didn't understand what or why everything was happening the way it was. But, i understand now. This is why we are fighting in this war. The Unicorns must be stopped once and for all. Otherwise, we shall perish.

* * *

><p>"No. No!" I was flooded with rage, "This war is terrible. Nopony should die because of some bucking grudge." I could see Nurse Trueheart in my head. "It's not fair." I cried and cried. "It's just not fair."<p>

Why did she have to die like that? Was it because of the Unicorn King? No. It was those unicorns that attacked us. I hate those unicorns. I want to kill every last one of them for what they did to us. I wanted to feel every muscle tear, every vein split, and every breath they took as they choked to dead on their own blood. I wanted to listen to their screams and begs for mercy. But I wouldn't stop, no, I'd continue stabbing, ripping, tearing until they took their last breath.

What was happening to me? Why am I thinking these things? Nothing I do would matter. I couldn't save her. All I did was hide. I'm scared. I'm scared of the world, and even more what I have become.

I felt him embrace me. "I know it's not fair," he whispered. He just stood there, motionless, holding me in his arms. "War never is."

Something about his warmth, or the slow and steady heartbeats, calmed me. The visions of blood began to vanish away. Somehow, I didn't feel so scared, so alone, anymore.

He reached into his saddlepack and delicately brought out a worn square of paper. I looked upon it and saw a beautiful mare unicorn.

"My wife," he said slowly. He paused and took a breath, "they took her away after they found out about our relationship."

He continued to speak, but refused to look up. "Being an Earth Pony, and her, a pureblooded unicorn, it wouldn't have worked out."

I could tell that his face had sunk even deeper, "it didn't stop there. The next morning one of the unicorns came to me with a package. Guess what was inside?"  
>My heart froze. No. It couldn't be.<p>

"It was her head. They killed her for being seen with me."

Silence.

"I wanted to kill myself. It was my fault that she died. I loved her, and she loved me. I blamed myself for everything. That's my first encounter with the war." He gazed up, looking into the stars. "But then, I saw the bigger picture. War only brings sorrow and more war. I heard the stories of my comrades, worse than my own. I wanted the nightmares to end."

Silence, again.

"This war is almost over, filly."

I looked up.

"We can finally leave these memories in the past."

How could I? The only life I'd known was ripped away from me.

He knew what I was thinking, "you should try, at least."

His speech reminded me of her.

"Find something you love to do, it'll ease the pain. For me, it's art. It seems like you have a talent for being a nurse?" he looked at my cutie mark.

I saw the red cross, just like Nurse Trueheart's, "I guess..."

"Either way, get some rest. We're going home tomorrow."

"Home? I don't have a home."

"Home is a place where you can be happy. I've heard of this place, Ponyville, which is untouched by war. It seems like a nice place to settle down, away from death."

I mulled it over. What other choice did I have?

"Alright. Ponyville it is. Thanks for saving me Mr..." I didn't even know his name.

"Pie. Call me Pie."

* * *

><p>Everypony knew I was different. The adults gossiped about this 'new and strange filly'. "Who was she? Where did she come from? Who were her parents?" The colts and other fillies became quiet when I approached them. All they would do is gaze upon my cutie mark, unusual by the fact that I had one as young as I was. Others nervously backed away and disappeared among the crowds that watched me.<p>

Nopony could understand me. Nopony would understand the war. Nopony at all.

The war ended soon after my arrival at Ponyville. Pie dropped me off at the Ponyville Hospital where I could recover from the physical and mental scars. None of the nurses could even begin to comprehend these wounds: they weren't even aware of the war. The mental scars were worse then the physical ones, because unlike cuts and bruises, they could never be healed. Events, like stepping into a puddle, would remind me of the blood soaked trenches that I had to wade through every day. My heart would race, and I would see those evil ponies. I would see them on top of me, forcing me to watch Nurse Trueheart's death again and again. It was too much for me.

I would skip school, which Pie scolded me for. Nopony in school liked me anyways. It's better this way. I thought that running off alone into the wilderness would clear my thoughts. But this way very wrong. With every passing day, the memories became even more haunting. I fell deeper into the pit of depression. Then I couldn't take it anymore.

I was in my room at Ponyville Hospital. I closed the doors and folded the shutters on my window. Nopony could see what I was about to do. In my hoof was a needle filled with a blue liquid. Cyanide. Life was too much for me to handle. It was burdened with the guilt of surviving the war on the sacrifices made by my friends. Whenever I close my eyes, I see them screaming while being tortured. Then I see them mounting me, laughing while soiling my purity. I can't go on any longer, not with this guilt. I held the needle in my trembling hoof. Ten seconds. It takes ten seconds for it to kill. A painless death and then the nightmares will be over.

**KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK**

"Redheart! Are you in there?" somepony was knocking frantically on the door.

I quickly hid the needle under my gown. "Yes..."

I opened the door and a nurse tumbled into the room. "Mr. Pie... he's dying."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes: <strong>Thanks everypony for taking the time to read this chapter :)! Feedback, like always, is greatly appreciated. If you want to know what happens to Pie, read through Chapter 3 of my other FF, "The Color Pink". As for those who came to read the grimdark gory scenes, those will continue next chapter.


	5. Burning Hearts

"Hold on!" I begged to Celestia that Pie would survive.

He lay on the surgery table, bleeding profusely from stab wounds scattered around his body.

"Stay with me now!"

I knew that he couldn't survive; no, not from these wounds. The vital organs were all sliced apart and had already started to turn black. Major arteries leaked fresh blood. His weakening heart only pumped what was left onto the floor. A gash in his stomach dripped acid, burning itself away.

"Don't leave. Please don't leave!"

He was the last pony that could understand me. He was the only pony who I can talk to. He was the only one left.

I grabbed my tools, hooves trembling, making sure to not make any mistakes. I stitched up one half of his body, but as soon as I did, the other side would pop and tear. Organs were misplaced in his cavity, and many lay in fragments. What was left of him on the inside resembled a pulpy soup with chunks of meat bobbing up and down. This was a butcher's job, not a doctor's. I could see that his eyes were white in pain and fear. There is nothing more I can do. The last minutes of his life would be spent in pain and suffering as every organ would shut down one by one.

I didn't know why the voice in my head told me to try, even though my logic was clear. I grabbed all the tools, stitching and mending. Simultaneously, there was popping, spilling, and tearing.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." I thought as I embraced myself for what had to be done.

I brought out the syringe, the deadly toxin still intact in its chamber. I glanced at Pie's face once more, his once sweet and old face, and plunged the syringe directly into his heart. Science lied. He died in only two seconds. I couldn't apologize for what I had done. No, not anymore, there wasn't enough time. Why did I do it? I couldn't bring myself to see him suffer anymore.

I broke out crying, remembering Nurse Trueheart. It was my fault that both of these ponies were dead. **My** fault. I couldn't blame anypony else this time. I'm a killer. I should be exiled to the moon, if not sentenced to death right on the spot. It's all my fault. I'm so sorry. But there was nopony to apologize to anymore.

His corpse lay unmoving and dripping with blood. Blood covered the white-washed walls of the surgery room, the bottoms of my hooves, and my eyes. It must have covered my eyes, because the only color I could see for the next hour was red.

I walked out of the operating room and into the lobby where a single filly sat in the seat closest to me. She looked up at me. I saw her dead blue eyes behind a wall of pink mane.

"Uncle Pie... He said he'd come back."

I couldn't bring myself to tell her the truth. I looked down.

"Uncle Pie... Why isn't he here?"

I continued to look down. I couldn't face reality.

The filly began to tear up, "Uncle Pie, he promised that nopony would have to be sad anymore."

Why do the innocent ponies die? He... Pie... Never wanted this war. He didn't want violence or torture. **He didn't deserve to die like this**!

The filly cried and cried. "Uncle Pie... Why did you leave me?"

* * *

><p>For the past week, I isolated myself from the world. I didn't care about the world. The world took away the only family and life I knew. Everypony can go die. I wouldn't care.<p>

I closed my eyes and tried to imagine what it would have been like if Nurse Trueheart and Pie had met each other. Nurse would have always snapped at Pie, I guess, for being too carefree. In his defense, he would probably have sung her a happy song. Nurse would have laughed with him because nopony could stay angry at him forever. I imagined myself happily snuggled between them. We could have been a happy family. There would be no more sadness, only love and happiness. It was like a dream. I looked up at them.

And saw their eyes dripping with blood.

"Why did you kill us, Redheart?" they both shrieked at me in a screeching tritone.

Their once warm faces slowly began to peel and melt away, and blood began to drip from the corners of their mouths.

"Why did you let us die, Redheart?"

Their faces were now skinless, exposing muscles glistening with blood and pus. Then the muscles rotted away, leaving their skull bone exposed. Their bones were stained brown with bile and blood. Chunks of tissue, like grayish jelly, were festering on the bones.

"Why did you want us **dead, **Redheart?"  
>They vomited blood over me, and I felt it; the cold liquid dripping down my back. They continued to laugh and scream at me mockingly as I cowered into the corner of my room. I just wanted it to be all over. Please, let it stop.<p>

_Knock-Knock-Knock_

Nurse Trueheart and Pie disappeared. I was curled up in the corner of my bed in a cold sweat. These visions had been becoming more and more realistic since Pie had passed away. I knew that they were nothing more than a wild imagination, but they had become something so surreal that I truly thought that I would die.

I walked up to the door and opened it. It was one of the nurses.

"Oh, Redheart, are you alright?" she asked.

"Yes. I'm completely fine. Please leave me alone." I said, as I began to shut the door.

But, her hoof stopped me. "Redheart, please don't do anything rash."

"What are you talking about? I wouldn't do anything…"

I look at my hoof and saw that it was covered in blood.

"How…?" I was perplexed. Why was there blood on my hoof?

The nurse gave me a worried look, "I've heard you screaming through the walls for the last half-hour. I just couldn't stand and do nothing anymore."

Half-hour? I'd had that nightmare for only ten. What was going on? I searched around for a clock with my eyes, found one, and saw that it had indeed been thirty minutes. What's worse was that I had a gash on my upper forearm. Self-inflicted. Why didn't I remember all of this?

The nurse grabbed my other hoof, and I saw that I had been holding a bloodied knife. "I can get you help. But only if you let me, Redheart."

I knew what had happened. My nightmares had become a reality, possessing my body and forcing myself to act upon these thoughts.

The nurse took a step into the room. She tried disarm the knife from me, but my body wouldn't let it go. "Let the knife go, Redheart," she said with more force.

"No."

I couldn't believe that I said that. My body wouldn't listen to my mind. It was acting by itself. I saw myself grab the nurse's head and slam it against the door. I was horrified, but unable to stop myself.

I knew that it wasn't over. I saw myself shut the door and drag her body over to the bed, leaving a trail of blood behind.

"Ugh…" the nurse muttered.

I saw myself take the knife and hold it pointing into her neck. The nurse was scared to death. I saw myself smile widely and whisper into her ear, "I've gone too far now. I've got to make sure nopony knows about this."

I saw myself force the knife upwards, into her bottom jaw. The tip of the blade penetrated through one eye and sliced right through it.

"**Aghhhhhhhh", **she screamed. She tried to push me off, but I saw myself take the blade out of her face and repeatedly stab it into her hoof. Her blood painted the embroidering of the covers bright crimson. Eventually, her hoof separated from her body, leaving only a stub on her foreleg. I saw myself smile, again. I saw myself begin to hack at her other hooves, until all of them were ripped off.

"Hey," I said, holding up her severed hooves, "it's alright. I've only started surgery."

No. No. I saw myself head to the medicine cabinet and into the bottles of the most potent chemicals.

I saw myself sit by the nurse, smiling, as I opened a bottle at random.

"Warning," I read the label out loud, "increases sensitivity of nerves, use in extremely small quantities and dilute."

I saw myself upturn the whole bottle into the nurse's mouth.

Pain multiplied tenfold for the nurse, and continued to increase. She wailed and screamed, hoping that somepony would hear her. Nopony did. I saw myself take the knife and jam it into her neck, cutting away the vocal cords. She was purposely left alive, barely, and suffering. Please, just end it. That is all I wished for. Then I saw myself begin to skin her alive. The knife cut through her skin, layer by layer, peeling her like an apple.

I saw myself pick another bottle. No. Not that. Please don't. My body wouldn't listen.

"Hydrofluoric Acid." I knew that this chemical would eat through almost every ponymade material, even glass. What it would do on a pony I had no idea.

I saw myself squirt the pure acid over her body, were it immediately reacted. Her flesh sizzled and holes formed, disintegrating whatever was in its path. Around the holes, flesh rapidly changed colors, from orange, to purple, to black, then nothing. The skin had burned away like a wildfire, reaching as far as her head. There was no blood because it had vaporized into a red gas before it escaped her body.

I knew that she was dead by the end of the procedure. The only sound heard in the room was the sizzling of the acid, still eating away internally and throughout her corpse. I heard organs pop as the acid dripped into them. The acid eventually made its way through her and dripped out of her back.

But it wasn't over. I saw myself raise the knife once again.

"Autopsy time!" I heard myself cheer.

I saw myself stab at her neck, which came off clean in only two strikes. I saw myself take her head and smash it against the bedpost, until it cracked and leaked grey matter. I saw myself extract the intestines, pulling at it until all of the connecting digestive system also fell out. What came out was only a filthy muck, a homogeneous sludge left over from the acid. Her bones no longer functioned to give structure to her body. The bones were so damaged by the acid that they became like clay. Marrow spilled out in clumps as brown jelly.

Suddenly, I gained control. And cried. What had I done? I saw her body, lying on the bed, mutilated horribly. The smell of the acid and burnt flesh filled my lungs. But, it didn't bother me. It was the smell of the bunkers, the stench of war. This couldn't be happening. No. I looked around the room and saw blood and organs splattered, as if a grenade had exploded. The nurse's only eye stared at me as I screamed.

This couldn't be happening. But it was happening. This was all too real to be a nightmare. The sights, the smells, the taste... all of it was too real.

The next thought came immediately. I had to hide her. If anypony found out what I did, I'd be banished to the moon. I panicked to come up with a plan.  
>"C'mon, Redheart, you didn't kill her. Your body did!" I realized how stupid that sounded.<p>

I heard hoofsteps coming towards the door.

"Please don't come in, please don't come in."

The footsteps grew louder, and louder, and louder.

Then they stopped.

Silence.

_Knock-Knock-Knock_

* * *

><p>I was curled up in the corner of my bed in a cold sweat. What in Equestria just happened? I remember that I was standing over somepony I had just killed. Was it a dream? Is this a dream too? It was all so real.<br>I felt myself changing on the inside, from a scared helpless filly into a monster. I was scared of that nightmare. Is that what I'll become?

_Knock-Knock-Knock_

I got up and opened the door. I recognized the pony who stood before me. It was the little filly who I had met in the lobby.

"Miss Redheart," she said quietly, "this is for you."

She placed an envelope onto my hoof and ran away, bubblegum hair bobbing up and down with every step.

I looked at the parchment and saw that it was signed by Pie. It was dated on the day of his death. I tore open the seal and began the read Pie's last words:

To my little pony, Redheart.

I know that we both have been going through hard times ever since we came back from the War. Don't try to deny it. We both know the truth. What I want you to do is just as important to yourself as it is to me: I want us to both move on. It may seem hard, yes, but time heals all wounds. I've found this little filly a ways from Ponyville and decided to adopt her. I'm going to be a father. She's not like other ponies, she's like us. I've bought a new home where we can settle down. I want you to stay with me, Redheart. Together, we can move on and forget the past. Please try to move on, for me. I know you can make it.

Be brave,  
>Love, Pie, your 'father'.<p> 


	6. Raspberries

"I took therapy for the next few years," I explained to Berry, "and decided to settle down in Ponyville.

Satisfied, Berry finally got off of me, allowing me to stretch my sore legs. She had been listening intensely to every single word I said. It was a great relief because I have never told anypony the whole story before, not even the therapist. I looked up to see Berry. She wasn't crying or horrified at my story. Her face was cold and emotionless. Her face spelled guilt once again.  
>She placed her hoof on my shoulder. It was cold like stone. What was happening?<p>

"Redheart," she began, "there's something I have to tell you."

"What is it?"

"Promise me that you'll listen first."

"Sure. Tell me."

"No!" Berry pressed on my shoulder harder, "you have to promise."  
>She looked serious, and it scared me. I've never seen her like this before, not even when she's sober.<p>

I thought about it; why wouldn't I listen to my friend? I looked directly into her eyes, "Alright, I promise I'll listen to you."

Berry looked nervous. For a minute she said nothing. Then she took her hoof and quickly lifted her mulberry mane, revealing something that took me by surprise. What I saw under her mane was clearly the stub of a unicorn's horn.

"What!" I was at a loss for words. Berry was a unicorn?

Berry looked at me in fear, "please don't tell anypony." She bit the bottom of her lip, "I've never told anypony I'm a unicorn."

I know that unicorn horns sometimes broke or snapped off, but they're usually fixed with a simple mending spell.  
>"But, how…"<p>

"How did this happen?" she finished my sentence. She nervously shifted her hooves on the floor and began to shake slightly. "I'm a pureblood unicorn."

That word, "pureblood", struck my memory. Those ponies who attacked me were "purebloods". I remember them chanting that constantly as they killed Nurse Trueheart.

"Oh Celestia," I gasped. The next thing I saw was me on top of Berry, pinning her neck down with my hooves. No, not again.  
>"I'm so sorry, Berry." I sprung away from her. "I didn't… no…."<p>

She was coughing violently and gasping for air.  
>"No… I'm sorry." She held her hoof up. "I shouldn't have said that."<p>

I was ashamed. After all these years, I still couldn't control myself. I felt pathetic.

But I was still confused. If she was a pureblooded unicorn, then she would be… no. It couldn't be. No. I wouldn't let myself believe it.

"You've probably figured it out by now," she said, trying to avoid eye contact, "My ancestor was the Unicorn King."

* * *

><p>"Welcome candidates!" the old unicorn boomed through the megaphone. "Young colts and fillies like you shall pave the path to the future!"<p>

I never wanted to be here.

"The future is bright! I promise you that it's going to be full of fame, fortune, and honor!"

I was surrounded by other purebloods, like me. All of them, however, cheered on, screaming and crying with overwhelming emotions.

"I promise you that the future shall be a wonderland!"

I didn't understand anypony else, and nopony understood me. I was the strange one of the litter; a rebel who didn't follow the rules set by the elders that other ponies obeyed mindlessly.

"A wonderland, clean of the filth!"

I didn't understand why we were warring.

"A wonderland, ruled by the master race!"

I didn't understand why ponies came back every day to Canterlot with limbs missing and hearts broken.

"Heil the Unicorn King!"

The ceremony continued on for the rest of the afternoon and carried into the night. There was food and drink, free of charge for the celebration. What attracted the most attention were the veterans, decorated with silver and gold badges. They told stories of the war, filled with blood, gore, and laughter. They told stories of victories, priding themselves with every 'clean' kill they made. The little foals truly believed that war was a game.

It disgusted me. Everything about these ponies disgusted me.

I walked down the boardwalk and saw the Other Ponies, picked fresh from the battlefields, set up on display. Some were sold to the highest bidder, but most of them were placed on the stage to be humiliated and then killed. A little Pegasus Pony was bound by the wings and lead onto the stage. A veteran unicorn walked up calmly and took his place beside the bound Pegasus. He smiled and waved to the crowd as he tied the little unicorn by the hindlegs. He then lifted the little pony up and left her dangling from the roof of the stage. The crowd was wild, screaming and awaiting for the performance. The vereran reached out to the crowd and grabbed the first weapon offered by them. I saw him lift up a pitchfork.

"Is everypony ready?" he yelled.

The crowds answered back with a roar of clops.

The Pegasus begged and begged for mercy, but nopony would listen. Her wings flapped in vain as she tried to escape.

The veteran took his weapon and jabbed it into her side, pushing several inches of serrated steel into her spine. He pulled it out and three streams of blood sprayed out and dripped onto the stage. He laughed and laughed as he continued to torture the Pegasus with the weapon in his hooves.

The screams died down and the Pegasus' head fell backwards. Only a gurgling sound was heard from the body which now swung lifelessly back and forward.

I didn't want to stay here anymore.  
>I walked home alone, counting the cracks of the old Canterlot streets as I went along. The streets were completely barren, except for the rare dimly lit window. Lower Canterlot was always like this, broken and dead. Every stallion was drafted into the war. No stallion had ever come back.<p>

I climbed uphill into the Upper Levels, past the marble fountains and neatly trimmed hedges. Still, there was no sign of anypony. I sighed, remembering the time before war took over my life. The ground was no longer cracked or gravely. Instead, it was freshly paved yesterday by the Other Ponies. Eventually, I made it back to the chateau. Armored guard ponies stood in front of the golden gates and greeted me as I approached them.

"Welcome back, Miss Berry," they said in unison.

I nodded my head and they lifted the gates open. I went into the elevator to the third floor where the atrium was.

The doors opened and I saw my parents awaiting me.

"Welcome back, Miss Berry," said the purple mare.

These ponies were, in fact, not my true parents. Like all pureblooded ones, I was adopted by the Grand Council who reared me up to become the 'perfect pony'.

"I expect that you enjoyed the ceremony?"

I didn't. "Yes Missus Platinum."

"It's late, and the other ponies shall be coming back soon," she said, looking out the window, "and tomorrow is the First Lecture."

The First Lecture, the first-hand experience with war for little ponies. I wished that this day would never come.

"I remember my First Lecture," Platinum looked off in the distance, nostalgically, "It was so beautiful, I would never forget that day when I truly understood the meaning of pureblood."

"Excuse me, Miss Platium," whimpered a timid little pony who appeared from the elevator. She was one of our Other Ponies. Her creamy yellow coat was bruised all over, covering her with purple blotches.

"**EXCUSE ME? DID I SAY THAT A MULE LIKE YOU COULD TALK TO ME?**" Platinum yelled back.

The pony stumbled backwards and began to tear up.

Platinum turned towards me, "pathetic isn't it? The Other Ponies are nothing more than useless scum. They make this world rot."

The little pony was a Pegasus Mare who was a spoil of the war. Her wings were torn away, like all Pegasus Other Ponies.

Then the bell rang. We could hear the sound of the other colts and fillies coming back from the festival.

Platinum was furious. She stomped over and loomed over the Pegasus, "You useless little pony. You didn't tell me that they were back!"

"But… But… that's what I was trying to…"

Platinum bucked the little pony in the face. I could hear the crack of a jaw snapping. The little pony held her arms in front of her face, terrified and in pain. Platinum continued to buck the little pony, unrelenting and unable to show any mercy. Blood splattered all over the floor, along with some of her teeth.

"Now look what you've done!" Platinum said, still looking down on the little pony. "Clean it up, with your mouth, scum."

The little pony obviously needed medical attention right away. Platinum watched on as the crying little pony tried lapped up her blood off the floor. She cried from pain, as half her face was

_Ding._

The elevator door opened and a mob of little pureblood unicorns gasped at what they saw. A helpless pony in front of them, bleeding to death. Then they smiled.

"For the Unicorn King!" they shouted.  
>They ran out of the elevator and onto the little pony. They bucked, bit, and trampled over the little pony.<p>

"Please, no!" she cried out.

"Clean the world of filth!" shouted one of the colts.  
>"We're saving the world from evil!" shouted a filly.<p>

The little pony stopped moving. The mob backed away and I could clearly see what was left of her. Her head was twisted into an unnatural position, and her face was frozen in fear. A large gash in her neck streamed blood like a spring, which formed a puddle under her pink mane. All of her bones were smashed and shattered, most likely puncturing her internal organs. Her arms were snapped and twisted from the futile attempt to defend herself.

"Everypony, watch and look," Platinum raised her voice, "this is the filth that we, the pureblooded ones, have to eliminate from our world."  
>She snapped her hooves on the floor and signaled for two Other Ponies to come and clean up after the remains.<p>

Platinum and the other fillies proceeded to the next floor, unfazed by what had happened.

One of the Other Ponies looked at me, his face in tears, and yelled at me, "What do you ponies want? She was a kind pony. She was a mother. Why did you ponies have to do this?" The Other Ponies carried her body away, mourning for their dear lost friend. Before they disappeared, they turned back and shouted, "Who's the evil one?"

I was alone in the room. I never wanted any of this. It was a nightmare.


	7. Poison Berries

The night was cold, even when I was under two layers of thick sheets. All night, I could only think about that mare who had died right before my eyes. Her screaming and pleading echoed in my head. I couldn't have imagined how cruel ponies could be before that night. It was evil.

I awoke the next morning at the usual time, bright and early. Unfortunately, today was the day for my First Encounter. All the other purebloods were riled up as they gossiped about what 'exciting' and 'wonderful things' they would see today. Ridiculous as some rumors seemed, nothing seemed to be impossible anymore after last night.

"They'll make the Other Ponies eat each other alive!"  
>"No way! I heard that they have to kill their family!"<br>"Cool."

I couldn't listen to them anymore. I blocked out all the voices around me, closed my eyes, and retreated into my mind. But even still I would hear the mare's haunting voice in my head. I had to get her out of my head. I didn't care how, I just had to.

We took a large carriage, pulled by sixteen Other Ponies. As I boarded the vehicle I looked into the dead eyes of each and every pony. I saw their terror and sadness, and equally their hatred. Throughout the ride I thought about how each of their steps could be their last. We all arrived at the destination, the Grand Castle.

Platinum lead us out and into the castle, which was the heart of the pureblood resistance movement, where the disciples and followers of the Unicorn King lived. Outside the castle were hundreds of armed unicorns who stood guard night and day. Nopony knew what secrets the Grand Council hid deep within the walls of the fortress; but we all knew that whatever it was it must be something no pony should ever know.

Once we stepped through the gold gates, we gasped. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling and radiated pure white light and illuminated the grandness of the room. The silver plated walls extended several hundred feet to the roof, which the diamond studded pillars supported. The walls were painted and elegantly decorated with murals, with incredible eye to detail. Fountains poured the richest red wine into the basin of the atrium. The sheer scale of this castle's majesty left us all agape and standing in awe for what seemed like eternity.

"Ahem."  
>An old unicorn, the disciple Topaz, stood in front of us. Topaz was a well known general in our society who commanded the Air Units. He was merciless in battle and gained fame for his cruel methods. To add on to his legacy, it was rumored that his steely blue eyes could make even a war ridden stallion shake in fear. Those rumors were true. When he stared at me, I felt as if I was dumped into a pool of ice water. I couldn't even breathe and I truly believe that I was drowning.<p>

"Young colts and fillies," he proclaimed, "today is the day where you will never see the world in the same way again."  
>He led us deeper into the castle into the lower levels. I learned that the hallways no longer followed a predictable pattern. Instead, they became labyrinthine and intimidating. We proceeded deeper in and into a pure white room. In the center was a single table elevated at an angle. There were chains connected to the table, caked in something red and what I hoped was only rust.<p>

"Bring her in." Topaz said, as his clopped the floor with his steel hoof.

Then, I heard the screaming of another mare. I turned around to the door and saw two armored unicorns lifting an Earth Pony with magic.

"Please no!" she pleaded, "don't do this!"  
>The Earth Pony was helplessly lifted to the table and shackled. Upon closer inspection, I could see that she was a pregnant pony.<p>

"Please no! My baby!"

Topaz shot a deadly stare at the pony, and she immediately became unable to speak.  
>"Little ponies!" he yelled out loud, "watch and learn how we will purge this world of filth like this pony!"<br>He pointed his hoof at the struggling pony.

"Please! Don't do this!" she said, between sobs.

Topaz clopped once more on the floor and the armored ponies returned with a jeweled chest. He opened the lid, revealing his collection of the tools of torture.

All of the little ponies cheered as Topaz slowly brandished each tool to his audience.  
>"Use that one!"<p>

"No, that one!"  
>"Why not both?"<p>

"Hush!" he commanded.  
>All the ponies immediately fell silent.<p>

He took out a tool, which made Platinum faint upon witnessing its deadly nature. I couldn't put into words what was before me. I resembled the screw of a very large wine uncorker, a foot and a half in length. The screw was covered with thorns of steel spikes. He flipped a switch on the side of the tool and it began to spin rapidly like a drill. He turned to the chained pony.

"No! I'll do anything you want, please don't do it!"

Topaz only laughed. "Lights!"  
>The lights around me dimmed down, leaving only a single light shining down on the table.<p>

Topaz waved the tool back and forth in front of the terrified pony, watching in entertainment as her eyes followed the spinning silver bit. Just as the pony was about to plea again, he jerked his arm inwards, puncturing her womb. Flesh, bone, and tissue flew out in frenzy. Blood danced in the scene like a rainstorm. I couldn't hear the pony's screams under the sound of the drill blending through the remains of her unborn child. Strings of skin and muscles spilled onto the floor like streamers and blood dripped down, forming a crimson pool of life.

The colts and fillies around me cheered for more blood, more screaming, and more death.

Topaz raised his hoof, and then nodded in agreement with the crowd. He pulled the tool out, and watched as fragments of little organs and little hooves floated out from the belly of the mother. He was in no hurry. He jammed his hoof into the hole in her side and reached inside for his prize. He yanked his forehooves out and lifted out something for us to see. It was the head of the unborn pony. We could see the unopened blind eyes and the small brain through the transparent flesh.

"Eat it!" he commanded to the near-dead mare who hung lifelessly on the table.

She refused.

Topaz, with one hoof, forced open her mouth and shoved the head down her throat. He jammed her mouth shut until she was forced to swallow.

"Oh Celestia, oh Celestia," she screamed in terror.

Topaz turned to us once more. "Enough! The fun and games are over. It is time for the finale!"  
>He clopped on the floor again, and the armored ponies brought something quite unusual. In their hooves was a glass box, large enough for a pony to fit into.<p>

"Today, you shall see the ingeniousness of unicorn magic!" He shouted.  
>He took the box and placed it on top of the dying pony, enclosing her in the glass cell.<br>"As you may tell, I took mercy on this Other Pony and did not damage most of her filthy organs."  
>He cleared his throat once more.<br>"However, you shall be the first ones to witness this!"  
>He held a glass sphere, inside golden gasses spinning around.<p>

All the fillies 'oohed' and 'ahhed' in its brilliance under the light. The colts wanted were unable to keep their excitement in as they pleaded for the old pony to show what it could do.

Once again, Topaz was more than happy to oblige. He levitated the orb with magic and magically floated it into the glass box. Topaz released the chains holding the pony and yelled once more before dropping the orb.

"Run, little pony, run."

_Crack_

The gasses released were extremely volatile, as sparks immediately spewed out from the corner where the glass cracked. The little pony dragged herself into the opposite corner of the small cage, where she desperately banged against the glass.

"Tempered glass," he assured us.

We could see that the gasses had an immediate effect on the pony. Her flesh began to burn red and rotted away. She screamed and screamed in horror as she saw her bones surface. After the red phase, her flesh turned black and her skin began to turn into sludge. Her whole body, skin, bones, and organs turned into muck. I could hear that the banging became less frequent and quieter. Then, she made no more sounds. Once the gasses cleared, we could all see what was left in the glass cell. Nothing. There was not even a trace of blood, not even a single hair. Every part of that pony had been ripped into a void.

The fillies and colts, who hadn't fainted, cheered Topaz for his delightful performance. I, on the other hand, was nauseous. The pony was ripped away from existence, just like that. She was gone. And nopony would ever know.

"Bring the others!" he shouted again.

I couldn't handle it any longer. I ran out of the room and tried to find my way back up. The armored ponies chased me down, but couldn't navigate the labyrinth themselves. I suddenly stopped, fell over, and vomited. I emptied the contents of my stomach. The stench of the mess made me even more nauseous and I teetered away, dazed. "Away from the smell, away from the stench," I told myself. I was blinded by the events which unfolded in that room. Blinded by the discursive voices, I tripped and fell down a set of staircases. I tumbled into the darkness and I could feel myself sinking even deeper into the enigma of the castle's walls.


	8. Blackberries

I tumbled down the stone stairs, hitting my body against them from all sides, free-falling like a rag-doll.

Clunk. Clunk. Crack.

I fell once more and landed flat on my belly. Everything could only be seen in a daze. I held my hooves up to my face, but I only saw a blur. The world spun around me, even while trying to steady myself on the walls. Confusion, chaos, and panic took over as I stumbled wildly around in the darkness, but it didn't matter which direction I would run in, because I would find myself standing in front of a wall. I didn't know how long I ran, but I eventually fell onto the floor from exhaustion. I lay on the floor, trying to find something in the dimly lit room. But all I saw were walls. It felt as if they were creeping closer - that they were trying to trap me. I had to escape; now.

"It seems like you're lost, little pony."

I screamed because the owner of the voice had been standing behind me. I fell over and turned around to see a lumpy pony-like figure radiating a glowing light. From the illumination of what I assumed to be a horn, I saw that its coat was a tangle of green hairs with random knots scattered throughout. His mane matched his coat in both shade of color and its wild nature. Both his eyes were bloodshot, crawling with red veins and beating with each of his hoarse breaths.

He held out his hoof, "my name is Doctor Emerald."

I tried to pick myself up off the floor, but failed to do so properly. I fell over and I lay on my side, staring in the general direction of the random pony. Something was wrong with my legs. No, not my legs… I could feel them fine. Something was wrong with my head. My body wouldn't follow my commands.

"Are you alright?" he asked me, "oh dear! You must be hurt in the head." He probed his hoof into my scalp. I felt his hoof dig **into** my skull.  
>"Oh dear. We ought to get this fixed right away." He hoisted me onto his back and carried me somewhere deeper into the castle. With every step the pony took, I could feel my fractured skull shifting positions. In the blur, I could see the room change from darkness to light and from stone to chrome. I knew that I was brought deeper in because the sounds of the outside world had been completely muted.<p>

I was dropped down on some surface, and a powerful green glow glazed over my body. I heard cracking sounds coming from within my body. My bones shifted within the flesh, rearranging themselves to their proper order. The green glow dissipated and everything felt normal. There was no trace of any injuries at all. I was okay. I was going to live! However, this joy was short-lived. I nearly soiled myself once I clearly saw my surroundings. I had been brought to a laboratory of some sorts where the corpses of ponies lined the walls, suspended in tubes filled with an anemic liquid. Display cases on the other side of the room exhibited various organs, from hearts to livers, still well alive and beating. The ceiling was plastered with cutie marks, tanned and manufactured into a rainbow mosaic of death.

A hoof fell on my shoulder, "isn't it beautiful?"

I was too horrified to speak. I let go of my bodily fluids once he showed me his collection of 'toys'. Bloodied medal screws, spikes, and bolts were neatly arranged in cabinets, next to the pony-size blending machine.

The Doctor continued discursively, "my art. My art is beautiful." He brought out a large jewel encrusted knife with a serrated black blade shaped like a screw. He slowly stroked around the blades, singing to it as if it were a child.  
>My mind screamed at my body to escape, but it wouldn't listen. The Doctor approached me, staring with his wild eyes. He walked closer, and closer, then past me. His eyes were fixed on a single door behind me.<p>

"Come on now!" he called after me.  
>I wouldn't budge.<br>"Oh, this isn't a game now!" he said, as he resorted to magic to push me through the doorway.

It took only a second for my eyes to adjust to the pitch black darkness, but once they did, the sight I saw inside that room terrified me as much as what was outside. The Doctor and I now floated, suspended several feet by magic, above a mob of Other Ponies. Their moans and crying added onto the stench of month-old filth and decaying corpses they stood on. I could see these ponies' bodies were half-dead, but their souls tortured and ripped to pieces. The floor, again, seemed to be non-existent, as the ponies stood on piles of hides and bones of their comrades.  
>Some reached out and called to me, "run away!".<br>Another one cried, "please kill me!".

The Doctor laughed at their pleas. "Which pony wants to play with me next?" He used his magic to sort through the Other Ponies, toppling over many and forcing even more below the surface in the process. I could hear the screams of a pony who fell under, as if it were quicksand. Green magic drowned him deeper into the sea of decay until he was no longer able to be seen. Nopony tried to rescue him and the echoes of his screams soon stopped.

The Doctor finally decided upon his victim, a baby blue colt, no older than I was. He raised the colt up into the air and left him hanging like a puppet. The colt was mute with fear and hatred. I could see in his eyes the true enmity for the Doctor.  
>The Doctor raised his knife, holding it blade down, and brought down the full force of his forearm down into the colt's eyes.<p>

"AGHHHH!"

The colt's eyes exploded into blood and mush instantaneously. The Doctor released his grip on the blade, allowing it to soak in the colt's eye socket. Then, the Doctor continued his 'game'. He took the blade once again and began to slowly twist it while forcing it to dig deeper into his skull. I heard the splattering of the colt's brain being blended while still alive. Soon, a gray matter started to drip out of his nostril and mouth. Blood dripped down like a stream from his eye down onto the ponies below. The Doctor twisted the blade faster and faster, deeper into his head.

I snapped out of shock and found my voice, "STOP!"

The Doctor looked at me, as if I were insane. "What's the matter, silly filly?" In anger, he hoofed the base of the blade hard. The blade cracked through the back of the colt's head. "Oh, look what you made me do. I was going to have a bit more fun with him."  
>He released the colt, dropping him several feet back into the pit.<p>

I couldn't handle it anymore. I couldn't watch to see ponies suffer like this. "Stop killing them! They're still ponies!"

He laughed and laughed, like a maniac. "Are you crazy? The Other Ponies are nothing more than filth, scum, parasprites, trash of our beautiful world."

"No. No. No!" I yelled in anger, "the Other Ponies can feel and think like us unicorns! They're ponies too!" I was thinking about the mare last night. She was like us. She knew about pain. Her friends did too when they mourned for her death.

The Doctor laughed until he began to choke. "Other Ponies that are like us? They're all brutes! What a great joke!"

Then he stopped laughing. He slowly turned his head towards me, inch by inch, and had a grin stretched across his whole face. "You're not joking, are you?"  
>His voice had changed completely, from cheery to something cold and dead.<p>

His smile immediately disappeared and was replaced by a contorted frown. He looked me in the eye, leaned forward, and whispered into my ear.

"Let's test that."

The magic holding me in the air disappeared. I felt myself falling into the abyss below closer to the odors. I landed on half a carcass of a Pegasus Pony, rolled over and landed headfirst into the ribcage of another. The blood encrusted inside was green and blue from aged mold. Organs were bloated from decomposition and were the consistency of gelatin. I pulled myself out in a hurry, scratching myself with the bones in the process. But, before I could tend to my wounds, I was amazed by what I saw. The room was dim, yes, but it was unmistakable. Hundreds, if not a thousand, stallions stood in a circle around me.

"I've put a spell of you to make sure you won't die!" I heard the Doctor yell in his singsong voice. "And another so you'll be awake for the whole thing."

The door shut. The only light came from the faint green glow of the Doctor's enchantment.

Awake? For what?

Then it hit me. A sharp pain burned between my hindlegs. It was more intense than any other pain I could have imagined. A stallion behind me pinned me against the carcass floor, while forcefully mounting my youthful marehood. I struggled to escape, but it was hopeless. "Stop it! Please stop it!" I begged. He didn't stop, and instead sped up his pace.

Then somepony hoofed me in the face. "Shut up, Unicorn slime."  
>Somepony jammed something into my mouth. It slid all the way down my throat and choked me.<p>

I couldn't scream, but even if I could, nopony would have heard. The two stallions continued to pleasure themselves with me. I was just an enemy, a unicorn, the one who forced them into this hell. They continued, faster and faster. The physical pain wasn't the worst part. It was the emotional pain of being humiliated and forced to pleasure the stallions. They trusted once more and gave a pleased grunt, and then quickly slipped out of me, retreating back into the crowds.  
>In the darkness, everything smells stronger. I smelled something new, fowl and disgusting. It was sloshing out my throat and squirting out from between my legs. It felt disgusting. It tasted like filth. It made me feel powerless, weak.<br>A second later, another pair of hooves grabbed onto my flank. Then the pain returned. Another stallion mounted me. They repeated this process countless times, each time worse than the first. I would start to shed tears, but they threatened if I did that they would only go faster and harder.  
>Loads of the slime filled my lungs, and I couldn't breathe anymore. I begged and begged for the stallions to stop.<p>

"Please. Please. I don't want to die."

After the tenth set of stallions, I rolled over on my side and vomited a gallon of their fluid.

I begged once more, "Please, have mercy."

One hoofed my face and spat at me. Surrounding me were the shadows of ponies, cold, dead, and merciless.

Another pair of hooves grabbed onto my flank.

The Doctor didn't lie. His magic made sure I lived. But sometimes, I wish it hadn't.


	9. Cherries

It's hard for me to recall what actually happened that day. I was a little filly, scared and hurt. Some of the things I do remember were undeniably true. I did get lost in that castle. I did see ponies die. However, the details of the past seem to get lost within the guilt in my heart. I don't know how long I was in that pit for, a couple hours, a day, or possibly even several days. But one of the things I'm certain of was what happened once I got out.

* * *

><p><em>Creak<em>

I looked up to the door which was slowly opening. The Doctor stood in the doorway, with the light behind him casting a giant shadow over us. He slowly hovered down and all the ponies surrounding me galloped away, frightened by his presence. I saw him coming closer, but I couldn't move; my body was exhausted and my mind wished to die. A green glow wrapped itself around me, and lifted me towards the exit.

I never thought that it would be over. Would the nightmare finally end?

As I passed through the doorway the light blinded me, and all I could see was white.

_Crack_

I heard something break as I was tossed onto the floor violently.

Then, I felt something lift me up and push me against the wall. "So, now what do you think of your Other 'friends'?"

I was still blinded by the light, but my eyes eventually adjusted to the brightness. In front of me were the mad eyes of the Doctor, which somehow seemed even wilder than before. His hooves pinned me to the wall by my shoulders. That's when I noticed what had happened to my body. I was cut, scraped, bruised, and bleeding everywhere. I looked down and saw in horror at what used to be my purity. I looked away immediately; I couldn't bear to see what they did to me. I started crying profusely. "Why did this happen to me. Why?" I begged and pleaded to those ponies, but they continued to defile my body like it was trash. I was powerless.

"Shh, shh," the Doctor whispered, "It's alright. We all have to learn, whether it's the easy or hard way."  
>He cradled me in his arms, as if I was a foal.<p>

"But now, you can get revenge."

The Doctor turned my head to a crudely fashioned surgical table centered in the wide room. A stallion struggled as his was chained onto it by his hooves.

"Do you remember him? He was the first one."

I remembered him. He was the first stallion to take advantage of me in that pit.

"How does it make you feel? Mad? Angry? A little bit murderous?"

Something deep and powerful inside me wanted to rip him to pieces. Not simply to kill him, but make him suffer. I wanted to hear his screams and make him drink his own blood until he choked to death on it.

"Go on now, nopony's stopping you. Have fun."

I was blinded by rage. I forgot that he was a pony like me. I just wanted for him to pay for what he had done. I walked up to the pony and glared at him. I began to laugh and cry at the same time when I saw the fear in the stallion's eyes. I couldn't help it - this feeling of having power over another pony's life, being the controller of their fate, made me feel wonderful.

"Dear, you can't have fun without your toys."  
>The Doctor stood beside me with a tray of unorthodox surgical tools.<p>

I picked up a cheese grater, and the Doctor squealed in delight. I took the grater and placed it on the stallion's stomach. There was very little resistance when I placed it down; I felt his rapid breaths as the tool bobbed up and down with the skin of his belly. The stallion looked in horror and pleaded for mercy. Mercy? Mercy? I jerked it downwards as I pressed down on it. How's that for **mercy**? Any hope that I, a little filly, wouldn't go through with this died in the stallion's eyes. His screams echoed throughout the room as his shredded flesh began to pile over the floor. I made deep scars run across his stomach and chest, bleeding wildly. I felt and heard every stroke rip his flesh. After cutting through the layers of skin, I saw the white fat which I grated and grated, cutting through it like warm butter. I wouldn't stop there, no, not after I've started.

I threw the grater down and picked something else up. This time, it was two nails, both eight inches in length and rusted black. I stabbed one of the nails into his left hindleg causing his tendon to snap immediately. His leg twitched once and went limp. How's it like being penetrated? I grabbed a small hammer from the tray and pounded the nail deeper in, inch by inch. The vibrations from each successive hit shot up every one of his nerves and made the stallion cry out: "Kill me! Please, kill me!"

"Kill you?" I said, looking into his eyes, "no, I won't kill you. I'll make you pay. I'll make you suffer." I smelled blood. But, it was strange, it smelled sweet. I wanted more blood. I wanted to bathe in a puddle of his fresh blood.

I took the other nail and hammered it into his ribcage, making sure to stay clear of any vital organs. The nail ripped right through him, cutting a hole through his back. Are you scared? Can you feel the **pain**?

I released the straps holding him by the hooves, forcing his whole body weight to be supported by the two nails. He screamed as his body slid down the sharp edges of the nails while it cut through his body. His screaming increased twofold once a nail came in contact with his spine. The pain must have been unbearable. **Good**. I twisted and turned the nail, making sure that his body didn't stop sliding against it. Blood poured down from every hole in his body and covered me from head to toe.

I wanted to remember him for what he did to me. I leaned down to his flank and saw his cutie mark. Two white doves etched his side, but they were covered in a layer of blood. I didn't want to use any tools for this. I pinched one edge of his skin and pulled hard. The flesh began to tear away slowly at first, but skin soon fell away from his body like shredded paper. I held up his severed cutie mark and marveled at it under the surgical lights. The stallion's left side had been ripped away and his organs wouldn't have been able to stay inside the body, if it weren't for a layer of muscles.

I wanted him to remember what he did to me, even in the afterlife. I kneeled down and stroked his stallionhood. I heard his breaths becoming harder and saw his heart pumping blood faster. It didn't take a long time until he was completely erect. It was sick. This was what defiled me. This disgusting snake needed to suffer for it.

"I want you to remember… I want you to remember what you took away from me." The stallion knew what I would do. "Now I'll take away something from you."

He pleaded for me to stop. I laughed and laughed. He was pathetic.

I leaned closer to his ear. "The nightmare's almost over."

I took a pair of weighted scissors into my hooves, industrial ones which could cut through rope in a single slice. I made him watch as I slowly brought the blades closer to his member. I placed it between the two blades and then stalled. I looked up to him once more and grinned.  
>"Tell me one reason why I shouldn't do this."<p>

The stallion, between sobs, managed to say something, **"I'm sorry. Please, I don't want to die like this."**

"Don't we all?"

_Slice_

He whinnied in madness as the dismembered organ fell to the floor with a plop. Blood squirted out in strings as his heart continued to pump blood out of the severed organ. His eyes turned white in pain and he lost control of his mind. This didn't satisfy me enough. No. He had to suffer more. I took the last item from the tray, a bottle of pure alcohol. This should do it. I unscrewed the cap from the brown bottle and the smell of alcohol drifted to the stallion. Before he could plead, I emptied the content of the bottle all over the stallion's lower half. The effects surpassed my expectations and even surprised the Doctor. His flesh sizzled as the open wounds burned away, causing the skin to form a brown crust in seconds. The liquid also traveled into the open wounds and streamed through his system. With one more scream his head fell back with his mouth foaming.

I stepped back and smiled at my work. I thought that I would be happy after this, but for some reason I wasn't. I still felt empty inside, the same as that scared filly in the pit.

The reality of what I had done caught up with me. It struck me with the force of a million tons. I killed a helpless pony. I fell down on the floor, crying. I'm a terrible pony. I killed somepony. No. He deserved it! No matter how hard I tried to convince myself that what I did was justified, I couldn't make myself believe in that lie. It was wrong. All of this was wrong.

"You must feel a whole lot better." The Doctor said, trying to pick me up from the floor. "I remember I did when I had fun with my first pony."

He was insane. How could he enjoy what I did? How could anypony enjoy killing? I heard the screams and pleading of the stallion in my head, and I heard the words I said as I tortured him. I couldn't believe that I had done those things, those barbaric and disgusting things.

"No. It doesn't' make me feel better at all."

The Doctor looked at me, as if I was insane, "But don't the screams just make you smile on the inside?"

"No! Make the screams stop!"

The Doctor picked me up with his magic and sighed, "I guess, you didn't learn your lesson."

I was shot in the face with a bolt of green magic, and I instantly fell unconscious.


	10. Blueberries

Beads of water dripped down from the ceiling onto my forehead. I woke up in a cold sweat, trying to remember just what happened me before I blacked out. The Doctor used a stunning spell, a powerful one too. How long has it been since then? I stumbled as I tried to stand up on all four hooves, but only managed to limply bring myself up.  
>Where was I? I could only see shadows flickering back and forth on the walls by the dim light of a single candle centered in the room. I could see that the walls were moss laden and moist from the leaking ceiling. To my back were iron bars and a door chained shut by a heavy lock.<p>

A weak voice spoke from the shadows, "She's awake!"  
>A grey filly, about a year younger than me, strode into the circle of light. Her eyes were the shade of caramel brown, which reminded me of sweet toffee. Her flowing mane matched the color of her eyes, however, it was a tone lighter. Nevertheless, it only added to her innocent face. Her flank was void of a cutie mark, instead it was streaked with red lashes. She was a unicorn like me.<br>"So what got you thrown in here?" she asked.

"Here?" I said, dumfounded. I realized that this was no place anypony would want to be. I assumed that this was a crude cell of some sorts, but that was all I knew. "Well…"

I was about to tell her, but nightmares and screaming swirled in my head, and I thought against telling her the truth - I was ashamed to admit what I've done. "No reason," was all I could say.

Suddenly, a soothing but sad melody started to play from the dark corner. At first, it startled me, but then I became entranced by its mysterious beauty. I was unlike anything I have ever heard before, my mind went blank. The filly grabbed my hoof and tugged on it as she tried to pull me to the corner. "That's just Blue, my dad."  
>I approached the mysterious pony in the dark cautiously, making sure not to interrupt his music. As I stood near him I could make out his scraggly cyan mane and baby blue coat. Three little silver harmonicas etched his flank on either side, with smaller blue musical notes flying out of them. I was never exposed to this music, only the war chants and the King's anthem all unicorns were forced to remember by heart. This music was different from those, it calmed my heart and mind and made me forget about my sadness.<p>

Blue played his last note and put down his instrument. He reached out his hoof to greet me, "The name's Blue, Blue Breeze, former performer."

I took his hoof, "You were amazing, Blue." I was truly awestruck by the fact that somepony could play music like that. It was an experience more than a mere performance, and I was about to ask for an encore if I hadn't realized my naiveté.

"Blue, where in Equestria are we?"

"Somewhere nopony would ever want to be," he said. He turned and looked into the flame of the candle, mind deep in thought "We're under the Grand Castle, prisons for holding unicorns until we're to be sent to questioning."

Questioning? What did they want to ask me? Oh, right.

"Someponies like us who just don't agree with this whole 'pure race' idea are sent down here for interrogation." He turned and started at me, "You understand, right?"

I nervously shifted my hooves around. I wonder if he doesn't like **all **purebloods.

His eyes moved back to the flame. "It's all so pointless. Everything is so pointless."

I stood silent, only listening and taking in his words.

"It'll be all right, daddy," said the filly, nuzzling her father with her snout, "we'll get out of here soon and we can go back home."

What was this? Blue could smile, even when in such a dire situation. Didn't he know about the terrible things these ponies were capable of? Of course he did! That's why he's down here! I pondered this thought; then, I realized. He wasn't smiling because of ignorance or bravery. Well in fact, quite the opposite. I could tell that deep within his mind he was concentrating to keep reality at bay. He knew exactly what they could do. He knew exactly what they would do. His knees were shaking ever so slightly, but they looked as if they would give away at any moment. But why did he continue this facade of smiles? The filly - he smiled because of the filly. Was this love? Could another pony really make another happy even in a time like this? Either way, I wouldn't know. I never had a real family.

For some reason, something inside me yearned to have somepony like that filly did. I was always so alone.

He embraced his daughter in his arms, "Don't worry, your mother and sister can't hurt you anymore." He saw my confused face and explained: "My wife, the Great and Powerful Garnet placed us in here once she found that our child wasn't a pureblood. She also took her twin." He took his eyes away from the flame and looked back at me with his golden eyes. "Some ponies are just too prideful; just too prideful in something not worth dying over."

I knew that this pony was a sweet, kind, and unfortunate father. If only he hadn't been in Canterlot in a time like this. He could have had a wonderful life anywhere but here. I felt shame that ponies like me, purebloods, would sink to such a low level. It wasn't the Other Ponies who were wrong, it was us. Now I was certain of this.

I heard metal hoofsteps outside of the cell, making loud rackets as they approached us. I saw Blue hug his child closer burying his face in her mane. I heard him whisper faintly: "It'll be all right, Aria. Don't be scared, be a strong brave filly now."

The hoofsteps grew closer. The noise grew louder.

"Daddy will always be here for you. Daddy will make everything okay."

I heard the wheezing of the prison guard approaching our cell.

"I love you, Aria, never forget that. Daddy will always love you."

Then everything stopped. A commander, armored in bronze and obsidian, took a key off his belt and opened the door to the cell. He was escorted by two armored ponies who stood stiff at his side, heads head high in the air.  
>"You, filly," the commander ordered, pointing at me, "go straight down the hall and up the stairs."<p>

The first guard forcibly shackled my hooves in chains and lead me down step by step to stairs at the end of the long hallway.  
>"As for you two," he pointed to the two remaining ponies in the cell, "to the interrogation room, now."<p>

They too were shackled and forced out, but were allowed to stay at each other's sides. Blue whispered lullabies into the ear of his child, attempting to calm her. The truth was the filly wasn't the slightest bit afraid. Her father promised her that they would be safe, and that they would return home happy as they were prior to their imprisonment. Her father had never lied to her.

The father and daughter trailed only a few feet behind me. As I looked around, left and right, I could see that every cell was empty. The only trace of prior inhabitants was the melted stubs of candles in each and every cell.

The first door to the left caught my eye. From a distance I could read the sign which hung outwards from the door: "Interrogation Room." This is where Blue would be questioned, I assumed. I took a few more steps and could now see what was in the room. My eyes grew wide in terror. This was no interrogation room. A masked pony stood in the room, holding in both his hooves a giant sharpened steel axe. There was a wooden table, raised vertically, with one leather restraint at neck-level. There was absolutely nothing else in that room.

Time seemed to slow down and stop for the next steps. I turned my head around, unable to take my eyes off of the father and daughter. My eyes were tearing up. "No. Please, don't let this happen." I saw Blue covering his daughter's eyes before stepping in to be 'interrogated'.

"Hooves over your ears, Aria," he told his daughter, "and don't open your eyes." His eyes were in tears, but forced himself to silence his sobs.

I saw him let go of his daughter and touch her for the last time. The little filly lay crouched in front of the door, with eyes shut tightly and hooves over her ears just as her father told her to do. She believed in her father. Her father wouldn't lie.

My head was jerked forward by the guard. I could only rely on sound for what was about to unfold behind me.

Clop. A step taken.

Slam. A body thrown.

Crack. Wood split by metal.

Thud. A body falling onto the floor.

Silence. Dead silence.

That's when the high-pitched screaming began. "Daddy? Daddy? No... DADDY! PLEASE NO! THIS CAN'T BE REAL. **WAKE UP DADDY, WAKE UP!**"

The filly's screams echoed as I climbed the stairs up into the light. Why did this happen? How could anypony do this?

Halfway up, I heard another crack. The screams ceased. I finished climbing the stairs crying for them and walked in

_silence_.


	11. Wildberries

I climbed up step-by-step and making sure not to slip on the wet stairs. The intense light blinded me after being trapped in the darkness for so long. The rough gravely floor soon changed texture to stone, then marble. Finally, I found myself standing once again in the glorious atrium of the Grand Castle. However, unlike before, I no longer saw this place with awe or beauty. I knew that the golden floors and pillars of jewels have been created from the spoils of war. I couldn't imagine how many millions of ponies have been killed in order to accumulate this much wealth. The wine from the fountain spilled like blood, a never-ending flow of red life.

The guard urged me to move further into a hallway and up another case of stairs. The rooms became even more extravagant: diamond chandeliers hung high from the ceiling on silver chains, the walls were etched in a mosaic of precious jewels, and the windows were cloaked with curtains of finest Equestrian silk.  
>I continued down the hallway and glimpsed into a room to my left full ponies. They were heavily dressed in regal clothing, the mares in frilly dresses and the stallions in dark suits. They were drunk, drinking cup after cup of wine. The more they became drunk, the more they drank. Their clothes were stained with wine and ripping at the seams. Their bloated bellies of the stallions popped the button off of their suits, and they still gorged themselves on the buffet of the never-ending supply of food served to them. It was a sick sight, how the so-called 'superior' race was truly nothing more than wasted and pathetic beings.<br>I continued, walking faster and faster. The patterns on the decorated walls fused into a homogeneous swirl of gold and silver. The details were no longer able to be made out. Then I came to a stop. In front of me was a thirty foot bolted door which resembled a vault. In iron, the two words were clearly visible: Grand Council. Beyond this door would be the Grand Council, the protectors and dictators of the unicorn race. The guard called for five other unicorns. With the combined power of their magic, they began to undo the magical bolts. The door opened slowly and an overly radiant light blinded me further as if I were staring into the sun.  
>I couldn't see anything, but I did feel something for sure. An icy cold breeze billowed out from the doors and froze the sweat on my brow. Moisture in my mouth dried away and left my mouth parched. What in Equestria was happening? My vision returned and I saw what the doors were hiding. Inside were raised pillars of pure white marble which a dozen ponies sat on top of. The floor was made of glass, or possibly ice. The walls and ceilings were laden with mirrors on all sides. I saw myself in its reflection and the infinite reflections within it. The ponies who sat on the pillars were cloaked in pure white hooded robes. I recognized some of them: Emerald and Topaz, for example. They all looked down on me menacingly and eager to pass judgment.<p>

"Madam Berry Punch," a voice boomed, "you have been summoned here on the account of treason."

I was unable to speak because of violent shaking. It could have been because of the temperature, or maybe the fear of those ponies. My lips were shut either way.

"Denial to carry out the King's cause..."  
>"Refusal to protect the unicorn race..."<br>"An ally of the enemy…"

The ponies continued to read off the crimes of I've committed.

"She's not all bad, you know."  
>I recognized that voice of the Doctor.<br>"She did have fun in my office the other night…"

His reminders sent even more shutters down my spine. I wanted to protest, that I didn't kill that stallion; that it wasn't me and that I didn't want anypony to die. But I knew the facts were all too real to deny; I am a murderer. I would have cried right there if my eyes were able to.

The accusations continued for nearly a half hour. I was sure that they would send me to the gallows. A coincidence, but just maybe fate, allowed me to live one day more.

"However, the worst crime would be to kill a pureblood. The Unicorn King would never allow such a crime."

I couldn't believe what they had said. I would be allowed live.

"However, you have shamed all of unicorn kind."

I half expected for something like this to happen. Nothing in life came without consequences. Before I could brace myself a great purple glow launched me up into the air.

"You no longer deserve the title of a unicorn."

Several beams of magic shot at my horn which was rapidly forced to absorb their energy. My horn instantly heated up and glowed fiery red.

"A shame, really, that a pureblood would be treasonous. You could have been great, powerful, and wealthy."

My head was spinning and I could feel the blood pumping through my brain. This wild energy began to make my horn start cracking. Small fragments of the horn's matter began to decompose into raw energy. The pain was incredible. It was like having my teeth sanded down with a chainsaw. Once the magic had cut down deep enough, it revealed the magical core of white nerves. The beams of magic began sawing directly into the core and the pain caused me to blackout. The last memory was embedded in my mind forever: my head was tilted to its side and from the reflection of the mirror I could see blood draining out of the hole in my forehead and splattering all over the pure white floor. I looked like the ponies in my nightmares, dead.

* * *

><p>I woke up. My eyes were closed, but I knew that something was strange. I was warm, covered under heavy blankets similar to the ones of my bed. I didn't want to move; my mind was as tired as my body, and ached. I recognized the familiar smells of rose and mulberry perfume in the air. Was everything just a dream? I opened my eyes.<p>

This was not my home. It was completely different. The rooms were not made of stone, but wooden planks. The blankets covering me were made of wool, not silk. Nothing in the room stood out as extraordinary, instead there was a charm attributed to its simplicity in design. I was a nice change from the excessiveness of the castle.

I heard the creaking of an opening door. I tried to turn my head but pain surged down all my nerves.

A mare walked up to me, "Careful now." A pair of worried light green eyes stared at me. Her cherry red mane was tied up behind her head into a messy tail. I thought it was silly how her mane was so different from the mare-like image I was brought up to know. Her smile made me feel safer for some reason, even though I had no idea where I was.

"Where am I?"

She took her hooves and placed them on my head. She tugged on my head, or more specifically, something wrapped around it. In her hooves was a bandage, soaked in blood - my blood. She proceeded to clean my wound right before applying a new bandage. This is when I noticed a bucket of bloodied bandages sitting beside the bed. What happened?

"Dearie, you've been through a lot."

I had no idea what happened. All I remembered was that room and my horn. My horn! I tried to feel around for my horn, but there was nothing there.  
>"Where am I?"<p>

"We were lucky to find you in time," she said, as she got up to the curtains. She pulled them open and I could see outside. A forest of pink blossom trees were scattered over the dark green hills. I saw an abundance of bunnies and squirrels, something that I've never been able to see before in the closed walls of the kingdom. They taught us that the outside world was disorderly and dangerous, but the wild nature looked so beautiful.  
>"You were stranded out in the middle of the forest at night. When the others and I found you we doubted that you would make it."<p>

They must have abandoned me. Killing a pureblood was a crime, so they threw me out for the beasts to kill me.

"But, when we brought you back to Dodge Junction, here, the doctors fixed you back up as best they could."

She looked at my head and repeated, "as _best _as they could."

I still didn't understand. Didn't the Other Ponies want to kill us unicorns? "Why did you save me?"

She laughed at my question as if it were a joke. "Dear, every other pony has their head stuck in this war. The ponies here at Dodge keep out of this whole nonsense. We work together, grow together, and most importantly live together."

I thought about those words. What did it mean to 'live'? Not just existing as a pony, but living life? I've been unhappy my whole life living the predetermined life of a pureblood ever since birth. But now, it was over?  
>I saw a pegasus and unicorn pass by the window, side-by-side, working together.<p>

The mare could see the surprise in my eyes and laughed again. "Everypony here loves and tolerates each other. Nopony is better than another."

I could feel my life changing, taking a turn for the better. Escaping from the purebloods was the best thing that happened to me. There would be no more war. No more death. No more hate. I imagined my future life in this haven, full of smiles and joy. In fact, there has never been so much hope in my life before. It was a new beginning!

I stared further out into the scenery. It looked like a garden, full of life.

A few months passed and I slowly recovered, both physically and mentally. I helped Ms. Jubilee, the mare who rescued me, on the cherry orchards. It was a good life, even though it strained my muscles. I was happy to work because it gave me a sense of accomplishment in my life. Every morning, lunch, and supper everypony in the little town would come together and share the harvest. I learned a lot about the other ponies and their tragic stories. Everypony here was affected by the war, and they only came together to escape it like me. Earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi alike from either side of the war saw the pointless war. We were both happy and sad, that nopony else could see the truth and enjoy peace.

I owned my own little garden which I grew colorful flowers in. Daisies were my favorite; I just loved how they innocently danced in the breeze. Only last month did I start growing grapes. Ever since Ms. Jubilee let me try wine for the first time, I knew that this is what I wanted to do in my life. I also grew several species of berries, which I hoped to mix in with the grapes for a nice kick. It strange, how some ingredients which would seem to not taste good at all together create the best flavor.  
>Through batches and testing of my harvest, I created the perfect wine. It was sweet, but at the same time a little sour. It had overall a very happy body, but left the aftertaste of sadness. The texture was smooth, unlike the rougher and distasteful wine that I've had before. This is how I earned my cutie mark! Wine was the elixir which brought some cheer to everypony around me; I knew that it was good.<p>

* * *

><p>It was in my mid-adolescence when everything changed.<p>

"Everypony! They're coming!" shouted the mailpony. We knew that she was much too early to be delivering us our packages. Her eyes were wild in frenzy as she tried to explain to Ms. Jubilee her story.

But before we were able to understand her warning, a cannon shell exploded beside us. From the west stood the army of gold plated unicorns with their jewel studded cannons. I looked to the east and there were fleets of pegasi bombers, carrying explosives of different shapes and sizes. Our little village was trapped between this war, and I knew that it was impossible to escape the inevitable. When I recovered from the aftershock of the last wave of cannons, I saw that the land was slowly being torn apart. The fragile trees were ripped to shreds by the unicorns' magic, hacking away at the branches and roots. The pegasi' threw down their bombs and caused the trees to blaze afire. Ponies around me scattered away looking for shelter, but even the houses had collapsed. Dirt craters from the explosives littered the previous landscape. Dirt mixed with the streams, turning it into a torrent of mud. Then the blood. Ponies around me screamed as their ligaments were ripped off by magic or shrapnel by the cannons. They could do nothing, not even run. There was nowhere to run. Both belligerents advanced closer, completely enclosing our village. Unicorns drove their iron tipped horns into the pegasi' chests, mouths, and eyes. In retaliation, the pegasi released their volley of napalm, covering both my friends and the unicorns. I knew from their screams that they burned both slowly and painfully. Their bodies burned into ashes, and those ashes burned. The smallest critters were lucky enough to escape into their burrows, but most of the others were accidentally trampled under the iron hooves of both unicorn and pegasus.

I had to escape. I backed away, but tripped and fell down into a small crater. I landed on the body of a unicorn, his body still warm from life. But before I could run, a corpse of a pegasus fell on top of me. I was stuck between these two dead ponies, powerless to escape. I looked up at the world around burning into nothingness, like the hope I had of a new life.


	12. Grapes

I don't know how long I was stuck in that ditch for, several hours at least. All I could do was look up and watch as everypony died right before me. If somepony were to look down into this crater, they would immediately see me in plain sight. I was terrified. Memories of what these ponies did to each other filled my imagination with terrible images and sounds. My heart beat faster with every wing flap and hoof clop that passed over me. Was it from a friend or foe? Most pegasi simply flew right over and didn't bother to glance down, and I was very grateful for that. Some unicorns stalled on the edge, but then proceeded to move around it. I did see some friends, but when I cried out to them they would gallop away. Did they hear me? Or did they choose to save their own lives? I closed my eyes, hoping that I could drown out the screaming. But, at the same time I couldn't bring myself to do that. I was afraid, more of the things in my head than reality.

Time passed slowly and I remember counting every single minute that night. It was the only thing that kept me from going insane, counting the minutes. "One more minute of life" is what I would constantly tell myself. After counting sixty seconds I would start over, then repeat until I lost track of the numbers in my head. But, I would still keep counting even when the numbers would make no more sense. I just kept counting and counting until the last sounds of the battle died out.

It was quiet afterwards. There was no moon that night, and the world around me was dark. I closed my eyes and listened to the silence of the after war battlefield. Not even the crickets dared to make a sound.

A voice surprised me. "Oh, Celestia, please don't be dead."  
>I knew who it was; Ms. Jubilee. I could see the outline of her small body quickly roll down the side of the crater and stop in front of me.<p>

I was so glad that somepony was alive. "I'm fine, Ms. Jubilee."

I heard her grunting as she pushed the corpse on top of me to the side. I stood up properly on all fours, and was relieved when I saw that she was fine, other than a few scratches. She was a tough pony, she wouldn't die so easily.

She wrapped her hooves around me tightly. "Thank goodness you're alive, Berry. I thought I was the only one..."

The only one? I looked around the broken village. The only sources of light came from the burning bodies off in the distance covered in napalm. This battle was over and neither side had won. Corpses from both sides littered the once peaceful village. Every villager lay dead. Their bodies were crudely mutilated, with racist symbols etched into their faces with magic. It was eerie, how the happy village I've grown to know, once so full of life, now only inhabited the dancing flames.

Ms. Jubilee and I walked slowly through the village, looking for any survivors. We looked to the river, which was now tinted red with blood and brown with dirt. I knew that there had been an execution earlier upstream when handcuffed ponies with burlap sacks over their heads floated down by the dozens. I didn't need to see their faces to recognize them. I knew the cutie marks of my friends by heart. It was a sickening sight for both Ms. Jubilee and me. There were no survivors here.

We turned into the cherry orchards. The things we saw here were even worse than the river. Ms. Jubilee fell to the ground once she saw what they had done to the foals. "My little ponies, what have they done to you?"

Little foals hung from the cherry trees on long ropes. Their necks were twisted in unnatural angles and snapped by their own weight. Their eyes were wide open and their tongues fell out of their gaping mouths.  
>We walked further in and saw even more dead ponies. It was a terrifying forest of the hanged. Some ponies were tied by their hooves and brutally slashed on the sides by sharp objects. I didn't want to imagine what tools they used.<br>The trees were splattered in blood. The petals of the tree were no longer innocent pink, but blood red. On the branches of ever other tree, we would find a fragment of a pony: sometimes a leg, sometimes an eye, and sometimes a heart. Of course, the delicate cherries themselves were forced onto the ground and crushed in the midst of the chaos. They were smashed into the dirt and turned into a sloppy mess. The smell of sweet cherries and fresh blood made me nauseated, and Ms. Jubilee fell over sick. It must have been worse for her, because this small village has been the only life she had ever known.

We made our way out the forest and into the clearing. I saw my little hut, or what remained of it. Surprisingly, my little garden was left untouched. My hut had burned down to char and the trees surrounding it were ripped to mulch. Yet, none of the berries were touched. How, I had no idea. Did it matter? No. I walked around back to where the presses for the wine were. They were covered, like usual, but when I turned the tap blood rushed out in a torrent from them. I stalled for a moment, and took a deep breath. It wasn't blood. It was wine. It's strange, how I began to confuse wine for blood.

I nodded to Ms. Jubilee, I'm done here. We moved along a path to the last possible place where we had hope of finding any survivor. Near the outskirts of Dodge was the church. But the churched served more than only a place for worship, but also as an orphanage and a school. We hoped that the battle hadn't reached this far. But once we stood on top of the hill overlooking the old building, these hopes were crushed. The ancient wood beams supporting the building were hacked down, and caused the high roof to collapse into the body of the church. The great stain glass window of the great sun goddess lay in shattered fragments all over the floor. Their brilliance and luster, too, were lost.  
>I heard a wheezing sound. Under one of the beams was a stallion, wearing a bloodied robe. I ran over to him as quick as I could, glad that somepony else was still alive. I leaned down and grabbed him, attempting to pull him out of the rubble. That's when I noticed the metal rod protruding from his side. A rusted pipe ran right through his center from the back. He was slowly bleeding to death, and running out of breath as one of his lungs had collapsed.<br>He cried and repeatedly begged, "Please, please help my daughter."

A small filly lay cradled in his arms. Her eyes were closed, but not in sleep. She too had been mortally injured and died long ago. The stallion was delirious in pain and refused to accept reality. Honestly, I didn't know what to do. The stallion died silently in front of me.  
>To my right was the building which housed the orphans. It wasn't destroyed, but an ominous feeling radiated from the creaking wooden door. I no longer wanted to see anymore death, but curiosity forced me to enter. What I saw in there reminded me of the experiences in the pit. Fillies and colts lay in rows facing the walls with their legs bound by rope. They were gagged and their necks were slit. I could see that whoever did this made sure that these little ponies suffered. Yes, the wound on their necks was the fatal cut, but hundreds of superficial wounds streaked across their bodies. There was no reason for me to stay here anymore.<p>

I left the building and searched for Ms. Jubilee. She stood alone in our small cemetery, reading the names of Dodge's founders.  
>"Will this village ever be the same?" she asked herself.<br>We had searched the whole village, and so our worst fear was confirmed - there were no more survivors.

* * *

><p>A few months passed. We spent this time cleaning the village, burying the bodies and what resembled bodies into pits. The small cemetery, which only three ponies rested in, quickly expanded to accommodate the whole village. We did, eventually, manage to bury everypony and clean the broken houses. We tried to move on, but we knew deep inside that it would be impossible. We cleaned the walls of blood, but the scars ran deep into our very souls. The water became clear and crystalline, but there was no more purity within our hearts. The war ended shortly after the attack on our village. They say peace and happiness returned for <em>everypony<em>. Life moved on for many ponies, but not for us.

The village became a wasteland. Sandstorms billowed everyday and coated everything in sand and dust. Everything died, and we lost hope of ever seeing our cherry trees ever again.

We cleaned and scrubbed the floors until they sparkled, but I still felt unclean. This is when my alcoholism began. I drank wine, literally drowning myself in the stuff. It was the only way I could get the voices in my head to stop talking. "Help! Help! Please stop!". These voices kept screaming, and refused to stop unless I drank. The wine began to look like blood, and so I drank more. I drank myself into a deep depression, and almost killed myself. Did I care? Of course not.

Why should I care about myself? I should have died by those ponies. Why did I, of all my friends, live? Their deaths floated like a dense fog around my heart, burdening me with guilt. I drank and drank, hoping that maybe I would no longer have to hear those voices.  
>Ms. Jubilee would no longer tolerate my drunkenness any longer. She slapped me on the face a couple of times and brought me to my senses.<br>"What are you doing? This isn't how you're supposed to live life!" She wanted me to move out of the village, and to see the world.

What else did I have to lose? The longer I stayed here, the louder the voices would scream. I knew I had to move away, otherwise the voices would tear me apart from the inside. I packed my things and became a wanderer. I didn't know where I was going, or if I would ever find another place like Dodge. Nothing could replace Dodge, ever. I promised Ms. Jubilee that I would come back once I was sober enough to look her in the eye and tell her of the things I've learned in my travels. I left behind the past and moved on to the mysterious future.

I took my things and set off right into the dust storm. I glanced back only once and saw Ms. Jubilee holding the last sapling with a single pink blossom.


	13. Sunrise

I was speechless when Berry finished. Her story shattered my previous beliefs that all the enemies enjoyed war. They too have suffered equally as I. But I still didn't understand why. Why did we go to war in the first place? Whose war, really, was this? Clearly, it wasn't the ponies' war. Nopony on either side wanted all this death and suffering. And certainly, we weren't the only victims of the war; in fact, we were nothing more than an insignificant speck in the sea of suffering souls.

I rested my head on her side. "I never thought that I would be able to put it all behind me, the things I saw." Berry's warmth spread to my heart. The frozen memories that plagued my thoughts were melted away.

I lost track of time sharing these war stories. I learned so much about Berry and myself. We grew closer, and to an extent, dependent on each other's company. But, I loved it. I loved being with her, somepony who could really understand me. The wounds and scars on my heart healed.

The stars in the sky began to fade away one by one as the Solar Goddess brought up the morning sun. It was a beautiful sunrise unlike any other I've seen. The day was beginning anew; the night had come and passed.

"Redheart," Berry said, as she took a hold of my hoof, "thanks for everything."

I smiled; something that I thought I've forgotten how to do. "We're not so different after all." Having somepony that knew the struggles I faced made me feel loved. Not only loved, but something beyond that; an unconditional love. If everypony could love and tolerate each other, maybe they would discover this magical feeling.

I felt the ghosts of my past begin to fade away. I knew deep inside that these experiences would never disappear from my memory, but now they would lay suppressed with the magic of friendship. I would no longer have to live in fear of the past. What I've seen and felt has shaped me into the strong willed mare I am now. Those ponies who wanted to damage me for life had failed; I am stronger today because of all the things I've gone through. I realized that the greater enemy resulting from the war were not the unicorns, but ourselves.

The bell in the center of the city rang seven times, signaling the break of day. Life quickly flooded the streets: mares chattered away and gossiped, stallions greeted each other while reading their morning papers, and the little colts raced to school. It was beautiful seeing life untainted by the war and everything seemed to be at peace. Even the animals always seemed to be cheery, jumping and prancing about in the field of daffodils.  
>To most in Ponyville, the war remains as nothing more than a mere legend - something so extreme and unpleasant that nopony would want to believe it to be true. But, the truth is the only truth and the reality of the world: every victim of war, the lives lost in the bunkers, the prisoners in the Grand Castle, and the millions of other sorrows of war are undoubtedly real. Denial of these things only leads to self-illusion, being void of sadness but also truth. Yes, many would rather choose to live in their own worlds where the war never occurred, but I refuse to do so. The truth can be a tearing pain, that weathers spirit down to nothingness. But, I have accepted it and moved on. The war in my heart is over.<p>

Berry and I stood side-by-side, watching the sun slowly rise over the horizon. Neither of us spoke. We just stood there, watching solemnly in silence. We were both quiet for a moment, in memory for our fallen comrades. I knew that they also saw the war as pointless. I knew that they would have wanted for the next generation of ponies to forgive and make amends for their actions. Forgiveness.

"Let's go, Berry."

"Where?"

"Out there, the world, to live life. It's our life now." I truly believed those words. My life was in my hooves for the first time.

Berry dropped her bottle and walked outside with me. Berry would also regain control of her life from that day. She no longer required alcohol, and no longer wallowed in self-pity. The only sweetness she craved was friendship, and I was happy to deliver. We both discovered the true power of friendship that day, and how its strength could overcome any obstacle we faced.

We walked out, together, and began to live once again.

**End**


End file.
